Carlsbad City Council declares COVID-19 emergency
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The Carlsbad City Council approved a state of emergency declaration for the COVID-19 coronavirus Tuesday afternoon.
The Council’s vote during a special meeting took place hours after the Eddy County Board of Commissioners declared a state of emergency for the county.
“The New Mexico Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management strongly recommends that local municipalities declare an emergency and submit it to the State Emergency Operations Center within 30 days of the (U.S.) president’s March 11 declaration,” said Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway.
The declaration demonstrated the City’s need for reimbursement within the directives of the Federal Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide, read a memo to City Council written by City Administrator John Lowe.
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“Such reimbursement would include, but not be limited to, costs such as transporting and prepositioning equipment and other resources, Emergency Operation Center costs, supplies and commodities, dissemination of information to the public, and evacuation and sheltering costs,” Lowe said in the memo.
“We don’t know what’s in the future for COVID-19 coronavirus, but we do know that the impact will be huge, and we will need to be prepared,” Janway said during the special meeting.
Mayor Pro-Tem Edward Rodriguez said the City of Carlsbad needed to make sure that services were covered, and citizens were taken care of.
“This is an essential step to navigate this crisis as a community,” said Ward 3 Councilor Jason Shirley. “It opens up federal assistance that will be a big help moving forward.”
Tuesday afternoon another death from COVID-19 was announced by the State of New Mexico and another 35 people tested positive bringing the total number of cases across the state to 315 on Wednesday.
The first death from COVID-19 was announced last week in Eddy County, as an elderly man died from complications of the disease at Artesia General Hospital, the New Mexico Department of Health said.
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Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.