As towns and cities shutter all non-essential businesses and residents are urged to stay home and isolate, the staff at local hospitals prepare to both test and house, and ideally treat, patients who are stricken with the COVID-19.

Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services has closed the door to all non-emergency procedures. Visitors must be screened before they enter the premises, and vehicles can line up for a drive-thru test at one of the entrances.


THE SCREENING

David Conejo, CEO of RMCHCS, described the testing procedure March 25.

As part of the screening process, whether to enter the premises or to get tested, a person is asked if they have had a fever or a dry...

13 years of service come to an end

Emotions had to be held in check by multiple members of the Gallup City Council toward the end of their March 24 meeting as they handed long-serving member Allan Landavazo a commemorative plaque and bid him farewell.

Landavazo was elected as Dist. 2 Councilor in March 2007 and was later elected as mayor pro-tem in 2011. He was defeated in the March 3 regular municipal election by Michael Schaaf, who currently serves on the Gallup-McKinley County Schools Board of Education.

When it came time for Landavazo to speak, he took several moments to prepare and was visibly emotional.

“We’ve done incredible work, and I’m proud to be part of what the...

The Gallup Water Department says it has been experiencing a large volume of calls regarding the safety of the city water.  Gallupians can continue to use and drink water from their tap as usual. Tap water is perfectly safe for drinking and washing.  The water does not require boiling for safety, and we discourage the hoarding of bottled water.

The City is following all EPA guidelines regarding water treatment, and in addition, is taking the extra measure of rinsing the hoses at the loading station daily with a dilute water‐bleach solution. In addition, we chlorinate our groundwater, although we are not required to from a regulatory point of view.  The level of chlorine in the...

Mayor Jackie McKinney addressed a question the Sun asked during the Gallup City Council’s March 24 meeting about what the city is doing to protect its homeless population in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As of [March 24], we have proposals put together by a local hotel that is willing to use part of their facility to sequester people during their testing period,” McKinney said. “So far we have everyone on board, but we’d need to hire security for the hotel and have medical personnel available on duty 24 hours a day until we hopefully get negative results back.”

McKinney said there is not a finalized solution right now, but communications with Governor Michelle Lujan...