Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
New Mexico's governor announced Tuesday afternoon that dine-in restaurants can offer limited outdoor seating starting Wednesday and that the state remains on-track to partially reopen indoor dining June 1 after weeks of restrictions due to coronavirus.
Under the amended public health order effective May 27, restaurants may offer dine-in service in outdoor seating areas at up to 50% of their outdoor area fire-code occupancy.
These stipulations apply:
– No dine-in service may be provided in indoor seating areas.
– Outdoor dine-in service may be provided only to patrons who are seated.
– Tables must be placed at least 6 feet from each other.
– No more than six patrons may be seated at any table.
– No bar or counter seating is permitted.
The emergency public health order mandates compliance with COVID-Safe Practices for Restaurants, which have been updated with an adjustment related to contact tracing.
The requirement states: “To support contract tracing, offer all customers who visit the establishment with the opportunity to record their name and phone number or email address, along with the date and time of their visit, and retain such records for no less than four weeks from the date of collection.”
Bars are not included in the amended health order. Bars may continue to operate for take-out and delivery if their licenses allow it.
“... This modification of the emergency public health order aligns with that mandate while providing an opportunity for restaurants to begin preparing for a wider reopening next week,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham stated in a news release Tuesday that announced the amended order.
The New Mexico Restaurant Association hailed the governor's amended order.
“We believe this will provide restaurants the opportunity to ease back into the swing of things while taking the time to properly train staff and implement COVID-19 safe procedures effectively, before fully opening to the public on June 1,” stated Carol Wight, the association's chief executive.
Wight, however, advised restaurants in the state's southwest region, including Dona Ana County, to refrain from the soft reopening Wednesday because of a higher transmission rate of COVID-19 there.
Lujan Grisham and health officials said in a briefing last week they feared a spillover of cases from the El Paso, Texas, metro area.
Tuesday's release said state officials are monitoring coronavirus transmission rates in the southwest region, and the June 1 reopening there may be delayed if the spread of the disease worsens.