Gallup is Closed

[AZBuck]

Due to a surge of COVID-19 cases in Gallup NM, the Governor has issued a proclamation under that state's Riot Control Act, closing Gallup for three days. All non-resident traffic is forbidden. All businesses must close from 5pm to 8am, and even residents must stay home except for essential trips from Friday through Monday. I doubt that this means that I-40 through Gallup is closed, but that town's service facilities such as gas stations and restaurants will not be available.

AZBuck

[Rick Quinn]

The Navajo Nation as a whole has been effectively closed to outsiders since the middle of March. The Navajos have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. Most households lack running water, and most homesteads, even though remote from one another, are nevertheless crowded, with multiple generations of extended family packed into the equivalent of a medium-sized double-wide. Diabetes and a variety of other serious underlying health conditions are endemic in the population, but health care services have always been far away and limited, so once the virus got started, it turned vicious quickly, and it has been very hard to control.

Gallup isn't on the Rez, but it's the shopping and trading hub for a very large surrounding area that is mostly reservation; Navajo, as well as the Zuni, Acoma, and Laguna Pueblos. The Gallup area has far more cases than Albuquerque, which has nearly ten times the population. Why? Widespread reports tell a story of crowded stores where social distancing and face mask guidelines are being widely and deliberately flouted. The results could be disastrous, considering the fact that shoppers in those stores drive in from as much as 100 miles away, and nearly everybody in the area is either high risk, or lives with someone who is high risk.

We're all getting weary of these restrictions on our lives, and as state and local governments start the push to re-open our economy, it would be really easy to start getting sloppy. The dramatic spike of COVID-19 cases in Gallup should be considered a warning. Until there's an effective vaccine, or until the incidence of new cases drops to zero and stays there, all of us older folk, and anyone else at higher risk, should continue to be as careful as we possibly can.

Rick

[DonnaR57]

I've been following this since seeing it on the news app last night and again this morning. I have checked SafeTravelUSA.com and it does not indicate that I-40 is closed. I would think with our commercial truckers rolling down I-40, they'd be hesitant to close it for fear of more shortages.

The pueblos that Rick mentioned are all closed except to residents....Zuni, Acoma, Pueblo, and more. Grants was trying to open up but the governor hasn't let them so far.

Weary of restrictions? Yes, and I fear there is going to be a revolt of a very unpleasant kind, making the 1960s look tame in comparison, because of all the restrictions. It's very controversial, and I have very mixed emotions about it. One thing to remember, though ... when you try to flatten a curve, it gets extended on the other end. And folks are not going to tolerate this for much longer. Those with high risk factors are the ones to suffer the most, I'm afraid.


Donna

[Mark Sedenquist]

Due to a surge of COVID-19 cases in Gallup NM, the Governor has issued a proclamation under that state's Riot Control Act, closing Gallup for three days.

Quite a change from most places. I hope we don't see such a need for a closure anywhere else and hope for the best for the Gallup locals.

Mark

[Mark Sedenquist]

..And folks are not going to tolerate this for much longer.

I wish it were technically possible to exclude those who seek to overrule these common sense directives by excluding them from medical care if they get ill.

Yes, this is a tremendous burden for 99% of US residents. Business owners, like us, have seen dreadful, scary drops in revenue -- but the alternatives are worse. Previous generations were able to "suck-it-up" for the greater good. We can do better, too.

Mark

[AZBuck]

Having worked in the medical field for a dozen years (and having the Hepatitis B antibodies to show for it) I will tell you those people don't have the option to "tolerate this", they HAVE to go to work every day, in close contact with the virus, and give care and comfort to those stricken with the disease. Our political 'leaders' simply don't want to call for any sacrifice, that would make them look bad. But 'opening up' too soon WILL result in more deaths. PERIOD. So yes, suck it up America. Make the people who sweated and died to give you your freedoms proud that you recognize that those freedoms came - and still come - at a price, and that many, many, many people have paid a far steeper price than staying in the comfort of their homes for a while.

AZBuck

[Mark Sedenquist]

Make the people who sweated and died to give you your freedoms proud that you recognize that those freedoms came - and still come - at a price, and that many, many, many people have paid a far steeper price than staying in the comfort of their homes for a while.

AZBuck

Well said. It is easy to bitch-n-moan. But there are more important things at stake here. Our national integrity is certainly one of them. I don't have much patience with people who can't see the advantage of protecting entire communities. Yes, businesses are going to fail as a result of all of this. Maybe even this one...

The American Dream has always been hard-won.

I am always going to stand on the side of the greater good. No matter how much personal loss comes down the road.

Mark

[Lifemagician]

Yes, businesses are going to fail as a result of all of this. Maybe even this one...

Mark

Mark, I hope that will not be the case. Might sound selfish, but I for one rely on it.

My oldest son has lost his job - business closed - and my second son, who for years has worked in Bangla Dash - I despair of their health services - rang me this week to say that he and his wife have tickets on the next mercy flight out of Asia. Since he is working from home, he may as well work from home in Melbourne as in Dhaka. They will of course be subject to 14 days in a hotel room at the expense of the taxpayer, before they can find a place to live.

I too have been in these four walls for weeks now, and not been outside lately, since winter is coming. The fear is that the flu season will bring a second wave. Very, very few folk are out without a valid reason. At $1600 per person [$1000 in NSW, $1300 in Qld]compliance is not a problem. I shake with horror when I see the protests in the U.S. Sure it gets boring, but then I remind myself of the point often made on this site - boring is a state of mind - and I try to think of/do something else. As our Prime Minister said right at the start: "This is no time to talk about rights. Right now we all have the responsibility to look after one another."

Alhough I would never vote for him, I am proud of the way he has handled this siuation, involving the leaders of health, industry and employers, All State Premiers and all union bosses. No more reds vs blues, no more bosses vs Unions! Just all of us caring for one-another.

Lifey

[Southwest Dave]

The UK has seen a spike in assaults on police officers because new generations simply do not not understand the word 'NO' anymore and are used to having what they want when they want. Our Grandparents were stuck in muddy trenches being shot at and watching their friends and comrades die next to them for years on end and really had no choice in the matter. All this while loved ones back home lived on rashions and wondered what had happened to them!! We are being asked to sit at home, watch TV, do a bit of gardening and save lives. Is that really so hard !!! We can have a moan but for gods sake it's common sense. A very dear friend of ours (we regard her and her kids as family) has just lost her father to COVID-19. He was in a care home and she was unable to visit him because of the virus, she had not seen him for over a month in person, she could not sit with him while he passed and had to collect his belongings from outside the home stacked up in black bin bags. She can't get hugs from us or extended family .(Thank god her kids moved back in with her after their Uni was closed or she would have been totally alone.) This is happening to hundreds of thousands of people across the world and it would be many millions if it were not for the restrictions. Not only are we all at risk, more importantly we are potential killers, including those we love. Think of them and not yourselves. Why do the people who think they are bullet proof or can't do any harm to others by going out not realise they are not any different to the rest of the population !!

Dave.

[DonnaR57]

Here are my own more complete thoughts about this whole thing. There's a Venn diagram floating around the 'Net where the center says ME. It's on my Facebook page. But here's what it says, and my own comments about how I see the situation:


Large bubble: People who are taking COVID-19 seriously. I have to, there are two factors that hit me (age and previous pneumonia patient). Fortunately, I no longer have some of the other issues. We believe that my husband has already had a mild case of this stuff, right after we returned from our February weekend at Disneyland (a month before they closed). If he has, he was fortunate that it was so mild, because he has 3 factors against him (age, on heart meds and former cancer patient).

Large Bubble: People worried about the expansion of authoritarian government policies. Yes. I am not a person to really like “big government”.

Large Bubble: People concerned about impending economic devastation. Yes!!! Stores that were failing pre-COVID are likely never to open again. Restaurants that cannot survive on take-out are going to fail eventually. The travel industry is suffering horrifically: airlines are almost completely shut down and are flying half-full planes (and may have to continue to do so for years), hotels can't serve people if they aren't traveling, places that cater to tourists (museums, national parks, state parks, theme parks) are closed and therefore not making money. Am I worried about a crash? YES.

Bubble within a bubble: People skeptical about the motives of the experts and the people that pay them. Yes. How much of the information is greatly exaggerated just to make Americans fearful and more reliant on the government for information and to tell them what to do? (See the expansion of authoritarian government statement.)

Bubble within a bubble: People certain that the cost benefit analysis was tossed out for political expediency. I'm not certain of it, but am wondering if that is the case.

Bubble within a bubble: People that know that the market will adjust based on real data and adjust behavior accordingly. Mildly, yes, that's probably true. But I am still very concerned about economic devastation.

In the center, where all 6 bubbles connect, is ME. I see the seriousness of it, I worry about the economic devastation, I understand why government stepped in but not sure if we should have given them that much authority.

You may not agree with me, and that is certainly something I respect. We all have the right to our opinions, or at least, I hope we still do.


Donna