SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico health officials on Thursday reported 163 new coronavirus cases and 11 additional deaths as a legal fight simmers over Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s authority to enforce public health orders aimed at keeping people home and limiting the spread of the virus.
The latest data compiled by the state Health Department show the statewide total of infections is nearing 6,500 while the death toll stands at 294. McKinley and San Juan counties continue to account for more than half of the infections.
The additional cases reported Thursday include 19 infections among state inmates being held at a lockup in Otero County, bringing the total there to 40. Dozens of federal inmates and immigration detainees also are infected.
Overall, New Mexico officials have said that a seven-day average of daily infections appears to have peaked around the start of the May and that progress has been made on several fronts toward meeting the state’s so-called gating criteria for reopening the economy.
Lujan Grisham has set a June 1 target date to restart dine-in service at restaurants and reopen gyms, hair salons and shopping malls at limited capacity. Those businesses have been shuttered since March to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
About a dozen business owners and companies are challenging the governor’s authority to levy $5,000 fines for violating the public health orders. A lawsuit filed Wednesday argues that Lujan Grisham’s administration improperly threatened businesses with the fines, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The plaintiffs argue the state Public Health Act authorizes fines of $100 or less, not the $5,000-per-day penalty cited by state officials.
The lawsuit filed in the state’s 9th Judicial District seeks a permanent injunction barring the state from threatening to impose the larger fines.
The lawsuit names Lujan Grisham, Public Safety Secretary Mark Shea and Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel as defendants.
The Republican Party of New Mexico helped organize the litigation filed by Albuquerque attorney Carter Harrison IV on behalf of the businesses and their owners.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
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