Las Cruces Public Schools employee appearing in post apologizes for 'indiscretion.'

State police announce they will enforce penalties for violations of emergency public health orders.

Doña Ana Sheriff worries stricter measures will follow if community does not comply.

LAS CRUCES - Since declaring a public health emergency on March 11 over the COVID-19 pandemic, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has announced a series of public health orders restricting business and movement throughout the state, among other steps.

On March 13, social gatherings were limited to 10; on March 24, that was reduced to five, and non-essential businesses were ordered to close.

New Mexicans were urged to stay home as much as possible, limiting their outings to necessities such as grocery shopping while maintaining six feet of distance from other people and avoiding social gatherings.

The measures aim to reduce community spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease, which had infected 794 New Mexicans as of Tuesday and killed 13.

Not all residents are complying with that guidance, however. Early in April, based on aggregate mobile phone data compiled by the Unacast company to gauge people's movements, state Human Services Secretary announced New Mexico received a C grade statewide for practicing distancing.

That grade slipped to a D state- and county-wide earlier in the week, per data at Unacast's website; but on Wednesday, fresh data brought the statewide effort back to a C and Doña Ana County to a C-minus.

Defying the health order

One Facebook post, believed to have been published on Sunday, April 5, documented a gathering of off-road vehicle enthusiasts in which at least 31 people gathered by the "Welcome to Las Cruces" sign located near Interstate 10.

The post, by Missy Barela, featured several hashtags, including #IfIGotItYouGotIt," or "If I got it, you got it." In some contexts, the line refers to solidarity, inspiration or sharing; but in the context of the highly contagious disease caused by the novel coronavirus it may suggest a dark joke about community spread.

Other hashtags attached to the post were #NoneEssentials and #IHopeYouDontLikeIt ("I hope you don't like it.")

The message presenting the photographs read: "Social Distancing Mtherfkers! And if you don't like (it) ur staying hm ok bye!" with emojis simulating hands raising their middle fingers.

Las Cruces Public Schools spokeswoman Kelly Jameson confirmed that a school district employee was among the people depicted at the gathering. The employee reportedly contacted Superintendent Karen Trujillo and apologized for the "indiscretion."

"The person in the photo has been advised to adhere to the strictest of social distancing protocols and will not be participating in any school efforts related to meal or technology distribution," Jameson stated in an email. "The district understands the importance of our state's public health order and our administration expects all of our LCPS families to do their part in this global effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19."

A 'once in a century' pandemic

Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart said the Facebook post had been reported to her department, including the names of some individuals allegedly participating in the event.

"We have sent this post out to various county departments to determine if anyone in the photos are county employees," Stewart told the Sun-News. "The county has a policy about bringing discredit to one's department and, arguably, that could be the case here."

Without voluntary compliance by the community, Stewart said there was a prospect that New Mexico would enact more severe restrictions to combat the virus.

"I remain baffled by those who believe this pandemic is a hoax," Stewart added. "We can say flu kills far more people every year, but we know about the flu virus. What is most troubling with COVID is what we don't know."

Barela could not be reached for comment about her post.

"Some people just refuse to accept the fact there is a life-altering pandemic in their hometown, let alone the world," New Mexico Department of Health spokesman David Morgan said. "This is the kind of pandemic that comes only once in a century, and those who don’t recognize that do so at the risk of their health and that of others, to possibly include someone they love."

By Tuesday evening, the group photo from her post had been incorporated into a meme, created by Las Cruces native Greg Martinez, showing the group photo in comparison to empty streets in Chicago and New York City with the caption, "Cities after they announce to everyone 'stay at home.'"

'It's not a joke at all'

Sharlee Eagle of Las Cruces, the daughter of a firefighter with other relatives working at medical facilities, told the Sun-News that the post's tone rankled while her loved ones accepted risk to provide medical and other essential services.

"To those who have our family out there working the front lines of all this, it's not a joke at all," she said, adding: "If someone in your family is an essential worker then until this is over that family is not safe, no matter how many precautions you take. So to see some out there purposely making fun of this terrible situation, it upsets a lot of people."

"I have friends working on the front lines that sent their children away to keep them safe from this disease and this is the way they thank those people?" Melissa Narvaez, who provides medical imaging services at Memorial Medical Center, said. "I have coworkers living in their garages or RVs to be away from the people they love. They are sacrificing so damn much to care for strangers in this community."

Gatherings like the one depicted in this Facebook post, she said, show a "complete disregard for the greater good" and puts the community at risk.

"They may be young and healthy, but what about their parents or grandparents?" she said.

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"The nation has already seen what just going on with life has done in other states, such as how packing Florida beaches during spring break blew up the numbers of positive COVID-19 cases among young people," Morgan added.

State police will enforce penalties

On Tuesday, the New Mexico State Police announced it would begin more strictly enforcing penalties on New Mexico businesses and members of the public who refuse to comply with emergency public health orders.

The governor extended restrictions Monday on public gatherings and non-essential businesses to April 30. She also announced a new health order requiring essential retail businesses, such as grocery and hardware stores, to limit occupancy in the stores to further enhance physical distancing measures.

The NMSP said officers would first issue written warnings along with cease and desist orders. Upon subsequent violations, non-compliant businesses may be cited under the Public Health Act and face civil penalties of up to $5,000.

In a statement, NMSP Chief Tim Johnson wrote, "The sooner we strictly adhere to the Public Health Order, the sooner we’ll all get through this, and the better off our state will be as far as preventing illnesses and death."

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Johnson added that his agency has received many complaints about non-compliance.

"It’s putting our officers, law enforcement all across the state and the public in jeopardy — and it risks increasing the already significant strain on our health care professionals," he wrote.

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"We understand the frustration of not being able to live life as usual," Morgan said. "The pandemic won’t last forever, but it has a better chance of ending sooner if we all pull together and heed the public health orders. It is truly in the best interests of all of us not to gather in large groups, not sit close to each other in public, not shake hands, and not risk further spread of this virus. ... It is up all of us in New Mexico to take responsibility for our personal health and that of our friends, family and community."

Ways to report

The public may report noncompliance within a business, violations of the mass gatherings ban or other violations of the public order by the following means:

Email the New Mexico State Police at NMSP.COVID19@state.nm.us;

contact the state police non-emergency COVID-19 hotline at 833-551-0518, Option 9;

contact your police or sheriff’s department on their non-emergency phone lines.

When submitting a noncompliance complaint to the state police via email, the agency asks the public to provide the date and time of the observed violation; city and county; business name and business address.

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.