Quarantines or not, Americans descend on summer vacation
spots
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[July 15, 2020] By
Andrew Hay
RED RIVER, N.M. (Reuters) - In the New
Mexico mountain resort of Red River, tourists from Texas stroll along
Main Street, most disregarding Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham's orders
they quarantine and wear masks.
It's the same in other New Mexican tourist towns such as Taos and Santa
Fe, except nearly all their visitors wear face coverings - surrounded by
signs warning of fines if they don't.
Like governors in at least 15 states, Lujan Grisham has ordered
out-of-state tourists to self-isolate, citing data that about one in 10
of New Mexico's spiking COVID-19 cases comes from visitors.
Enforcing the orders is proving difficult, given the lack of a national
plan, police reluctance to take on the massive task, and Americans'
penchant for driving hundreds or thousands of miles to vacation, even in
a pandemic.
A U.S. road trip this summer means navigating through a patchwork of
quarantine regulations across various states, most of them voluntary.
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut require travelers from 19 states
with high COVID-19 infection rates to self-quarantine for two weeks upon
arrival. New York imposes fines.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Jul/15/images/ads/current/graue_sda_2016.png)
Hard-hit Florida requires travelers from those three states to
self-isolate for 14 days whether arriving by plane or car, or face a
$500 fine.
Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont all have varying
self-isolation rules.
'TAKING AWAY OUR LIBERTY'
New Mexico published newspaper ads in neighboring Arizona and Texas,
states respectively reporting 27% and 18% positive coronavirus test
rates, urging their residents not to visit. Health experts consider a 5%
rate to be worrisome.
But tourists keep coming.
"I think it's bullshit. They're saying the masks should work, so why
should you be quarantined?" said Chris Fry, 59, a feed company manager
from Dimmitt, Texas, staying in his cabin near Red River and stopping in
town for ice before going fishing.
A 45-minute drive south in Taos plaza, Louisiana tourist Christy Brasiel
was frustrated the historic Native American Pueblo was closed to
visitors and compared Lujan Grisham's rules to "communism or socialism."
"They're taking away our liberty," said Brasiel, 49, staying in an
Airbnb rental to avoid her voluntary quarantine order enforced by local
hotels that turn away out-of-state visitors.
As in cities across New Mexico, police in Red River have yet to issue
citations for non-compliance to COVID-19 rules, said Mayor Linda
Calhoun, a Republican, adding that she is encouraging businesses to
require masks.
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![](../images/071520PICS/busine45.jpg)
Mayor of Red River, New Mexico Linda Calhoun sits in her office in a
town where many people do not wear masks, violating health orders by
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, amid the coronavirus
disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Red River, New Mexico, U.S., July
10, 2020. REUTERS/Andrew Hay
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Jul/15/images/ads/current/atlantabank_lda_SFARM_2019.png)
"We live off of tourists, that's all we have, so it's very difficult for us to
enforce the order," Calhoun said of the quarantine rule in her town nicknamed
"Little Texas" for the number of visitors from that state.
Many locals in Taos County, where COVID-19 cases have doubled in the last month,
are dismayed by the rule breaking.
"It doesn't make any sense to be so selfish," said lawyer Maureen Moore, 67.
"WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE"
Only three weeks ago, as outbreaks raged across the U.S. Sunbelt, New Mexico
reported stable or declining daily cases.
A poor state with limited hospital capacity, New Mexico used early, tough
restrictions to curb the pandemic.
But with its positive test rate rising above 4%, Lujan Grisham has scolded New
Mexicans for letting down their guard since she eased restrictions on June 1,
and on Monday reclosed indoor restaurant dining.
On a shortlist as a running mate to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee
Joe Biden, Lujan Grisham has also rounded on tourism, the state's second-largest
industry.
"We don't want you here now," she told potential visitors in a July 9 press
briefing, taking special aim at Texans. "I want you to stay in Texas."
Lujan Grisham said New Mexico State Police would "aggressively" enforce her
quarantine and mask orders. The force has handed out 13 verbal warnings for mask
violations but none for quarantine non-compliance, a spokeswoman said on Monday.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Jul/15/images/ads/current/charrons_bch041713.png)
The rules are piling pandemic pain on businesses in the state. Standing outside
his Red River supermarket, business owner Ted Calhoun said Lujan Grisham had
gone too far.
"Ordering visitors to do a 14-day quarantine is killing the tourist industry of
New Mexico," said Calhoun, the mayor's husband.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay in Red River, New Mexico; editing by Bill Tarrant and
Tom Brown)
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