Otero County declares emergency over coronavirus pandemic

The Otero County Commission declared a state of emergency Friday in response to the spread of coronavirus COVID-19.

"We do hereby declare Otero County to be an emergency area as a result of COVID-19 for the express purpose of exercising necessary emergency powers and expenditure of available resources and requesting aid, assistance and relief programs and funds available from the State of New Mexico," the resolution declaring emergency states.

The resolution passed by a two-to-one margin during Friday's emergency meeting with District 2 County Commissioner Couy Griffin as the sole vote against.

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"I'm afraid that the more that there's declarations of emergency and the more 'the sky is falling,' the more people are going to be put into panic mode and the more leverage it is going to give to political leaders to push their own agendas," Griffin said. "Not to say that this is agenda-driven. I know it's not. I know it's a sickness. I know it's a virus and I know we should be very concerned and careful about it."

Griffin said that he thinks the county has done enough to protect the people of Otero County since there are currently no cases in Otero County.

MORE:Alamogordo declares state of emergency over coronavirus

Otero County Commission Chairman Gerald Matherly said that the county needs to be prepared for whatever comes next to the county in reference to COVID-19.

"This is just a preparation and allows us to recoup costs that we would incur for this pandemic," Otero County emergency Manager Matt Clark said.

With the emergency declaration, the federal government can reimburse the county for 75 percent for any supplies purchased to combat the pandemic, Clark said. 

The resolution also states that all Otero County events, training and meetings save for commission meetings are canceled until further notice.

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on twitter at @nicmaxreporter