U.S. New Mexico city temporarily locked down to prevent COVID-19 spread

Governor of the U.S. state of New Mexico Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday invoked the Riot Control Act to temporarily lock down the city of Gallup to restrict the spread of COVID-19 in the area.

"Effective noon today I am enacting further temporary restrictions to slow the spread of #COVID19, temporarily locking down the city of Gallup at the mayor's request," the governor tweeted.

According to the act, all roads into Gallup are closed at 12 p.m. local time Friday. Businesses will be closed from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. while vehicles may only have a maximum of two people inside. All city residents should shelter in place unless there is an emergency.

According to local media reports, Gallup police and the McKinley County Sheriff's Department will partner with New Mexico State Police, the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the New Mexico National Guard to enforce the emergency order and road closures.

The lockdown will expire at noon on May 4.

Statistics from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University show 3,411 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state of New Mexico and about one third are in McKinley County where the city of Gallup is located.