Democratic governors in Oregon and New Mexico issued two-week shutdown orders Friday to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus over the Thanksgiving holiday, while the Pacific Northwest states issued an advisory discouraging out-of-state travel.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that the state would “temporarily re-enact a statewide order closing in-person services for all non-essential activities,” beginning Monday and running until Nov. 30.
“We are in a life-or-death situation, and if we don’t act right now, we cannot preserve the lives, we can’t keep saving lives, and we will absolutely crush our current healthcare system and infrastructure,” said Ms. Lujan Grisham at a press conference.
Meanwhile, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a two-week “freeze” on non-essential activities, including restricting restaurants to take-out only; placing capacity limits on grocery stores, pharmacies and retailers, and limiting indoor and outdoor gatherings.
“These risk reduction measures are critical in limiting the spread of COVID-19, reducing risk in communities more vulnerable to serious illness and death, and helping conserve hospital capacity so that all Oregonians can continue to have access to quality care,” Ms. Brown said in a statement.
She joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee in issuing a travel advisory urging residents to avoid non-essential out-of-state travel as new cases of COVID-19 rise nationwide.
Those who do travel outside their state should plan to quarantine for two weeks after they return.
“COVID cases have doubled in Washington over the past two weeks. This puts our state in as dangerous a position today as we were in March,” said the Democrat Inslee in a statement. “Limiting and reducing travel is one way to reduce the further spread of the disease.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that California recently exceeded one million total cases, “with no sign of the virus slowing down.”
“Travel increases the risk of spreading COVID-19, and we must all collectively increase our efforts at this time to keep the virus at bay and save lives,” Mr. Newsom said.
Wow: You can’t get much more blunt than this.https://t.co/eSTxybvzOG
— @denverwestword (@DenverWestword) November 13, 2020
At a Friday press conference, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis urged residents to play it safe over Thanksgiving by quarantining for two weeks beforehand if they plan to visit relatives, especially elderly ones, but did not issue a shutdown order.
“The more family members that make that decision to self-quarantine, the more likely it is that you’re not bringing a loaded pistol for Grandma’s head,” said the Democrat Polis at a press conference.
• The Associated Press contributed to this report.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.