SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s public health order related to COVID-19 is coming to an end.
The state Department of Health announced Friday is the last day of an executive order that had been extended by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
The agency had declared a public emergency and maintained measures like mask mandates for public indoor spaces and a vaccination requirement for health care workers and certain other employees.
The public health orders were last extended in January, as the omicron variant was driving up the case count. New Mexico’s hospitals were operating under standards of care that prioritize immediate medical emergencies.
Health care facilities are encouraged to follow CDC guidelines. They will have discretion as to whether they want to go above the minimum federal guidelines.
The lapsing of the orders signals an end to the expanded legal powers of governors to suspend laws in response to the once mysterious disease.
President Joe Biden announced in January that the federal government will end its own version May 11.
