RUIDOSO, NM – March 11, 2020 – Village of Ruidoso officials are actively working in conjunction with officials at Lincoln County Medical Center (LCMC), Lincoln County Emergency Management Services, local law enforcement agencies, the local school district and the New Mexico Department of Health to monitor the development of COVID-19 in New Mexico.
“The health and well-being of our residents and visitors remain our top priority. We continue to work closely with federal, state and county agencies to monitor the situation and are implementing precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in our community,” said Mayor Lynn Crawford.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Department of Health announced today that three New Mexico residents tested presumptive positive for COVID-19, the first confirmed cases in the state. Per the state Department of Health, two of the cases are a Socorro County husband and wife, both in their 60s, with known recent international travel to Egypt. Both are at home in isolation. The third case is a woman in her 70s in Bernalillo County with known recent travel to the New York City area. She is also isolated at home.
The governor, in consultation with leadership at the New Mexico Department of Health, on Wednesday, issued enhanced public health advisory steps that New Mexicans should take to protect themselves, their families and New Mexico communities from the potential occurrence or spread of the disease in our state.
“We will continue to work to educate the public on steps they can take to decrease their risk of infection, like washing their hands, avoiding large gatherings, etc.,” said Crawford. “We recognize that this is a rapidly developing story but we want to public to remain calm. We will continue to provide updates on any changes at the local level.”
The Department of Health urged New Mexicans to:
Avoid large public gatherings, particularly if you are a high-risk individual
High-risk individuals are older adults and people who have severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease
Avoid all non-essential travel to affected out-of-state areas; and exercise extreme caution with all out-of-state travel
Remain home (“self-isolate”) if you are sick and call the Department of Health at 1-855-600-3453 if you are exhibiting any of the symptoms of COVID-19
Those symptoms include fever, cough or trouble breathing
And continue taking precautionary steps to protect your individual health, such as:
Washing your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
Clean “high-touch” surfaces daily with regular household cleaners
Avoid sharing personal household items
The Village will continue to provide any new updates from NMDOH on the VOR website and (www.ruidoso-nm.gov) and on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/villageofruidoso/). In addition, other valuable resources that are constantly being updated are available at the CDC website (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html) and the New Mexico Department of Health website (https://cv.nmhealth.org/).