By Emma Whitford

Law360 (May 5, 2020, 6:09 PM EDT) -- An emergency order closing all roads into the New Mexico city of Gallup to curb the spread of the coronavirus has won praise from Navajos in the region, even as families face a new challenge without access to a neighboring hub for food and supplies like propane and hay.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Monday invoked her powers under the state's Riot Control Act, extending Gallup's Friday lockdown through noon this Thursday. Gallup Mayor Louis Bonaguidi requested the extreme measure, as McKinley County has reported the most positive COVID-19 cases in the state.

"The governor made a good decision because the cases are just rising and rising," Karrie Manuelito, who is Navajo and lives in the reservation border town of Holbrook, Arizona, told Law360. "My daughter lives in Gallup, and I've been calling her and telling her to stay home. With her living in Gallup, it's scary."

But Manuelito also noted many Navajo families rely on Gallup for groceries and other essentials.

"Basically everybody relies on Gallup," she said. "It's the place where everybody goes to get what they need. They have pawn shops where you can pawn stuff, and you can pay bills."

Since the Gallup shutdown took effect on Friday, Manuelito said she has noticed long lines and food shortages in her town. "It was crazy," she said of her local Safeway. "We had limitations on potatoes, flour, water."

Mayor Bonaguidi will likely decide Wednesday whether he'll seek to further extend the emergency order, City Manager Maryann Ustick told Law360.

In addition to closing roads into Gallup to nonresidents, the city has a nightly curfew and has directed residents to stay home unless there is an emergency. No more than two people are allowed to travel in a vehicle. Violations constitute a misdemeanor for the first offense and a fourth-degree felony for the second.

According to Ustick, Gallup decided to take action on the first of the month, when the city typically sees a large influx of visitors following payday.

"You have 80,000 people in a town designed for 20,000," she said. "The idea was to try to cut down on community spread."

"For a lockdown for three days, I think people could deal with it, but if it does extend, it does have an impact on other towns, which we realize," Ustick added. "[This raises] an important question as to how we can coordinate with them."

McKinley County has nearly a third of New Mexico's 4,031 positive COVID-19 cases, and 81 residents have died of the disease. On Saturday, the Navajo Nation reported 617 confirmed cases among tribe members in the county — more than a quarter of the tribe's total cases.

Dr. Loretta Christensen, the Indian Health Service's Navajo Area chief medical officer, said in a recent press call that Gallup's surge in cases is attributable in part to an outbreak last month at the Gallup Detox Center. "That made a very large increase in cases in Gallup and thus in McKinley County," she said.

Kevin Begay, manager of a Navajo Nation chapter in Sheep Springs, 45 miles north of Gallup, told Law360 on Tuesday that his community relies heavily on Gallup, which has chain stores like Walmart, Ace Hardware and Home Depot. He typically drives there at least three times a week for supplies.

Since Friday, traffic has shifted to Farmington, New Mexico, a larger city about 60 miles to the north. "I had to go there twice since the Gallup lockdown, and everything is gone," Begay said. "The stock is low, and to get into Walmart, I had to wait about 40 minutes yesterday. It's getting to the point where we're not able to find anything, and a lot of our people rely on these border towns."

A spokesperson for the city of Farmington did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

On the reservation, Begay added, "the supply doesn't meet the demand." Still, he acknowledged the need for strong measures in Gallup. "I really do think that they needed to do something, because the virus was just spreading like crazy," he said.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and his team distributed food, water and other supplies to 837 Navajo Nation families in New Mexico on Monday, according to a press release.

"With the lockdown of Gallup extended until Thursday by the state of New Mexico, today's food and water distributions will help families that are unable to go to grocery stores to purchase items and also keep them home and safe from the virus," Nez said in a statement.

Nez, whose reservation has been particularly hard-hit by the coronavirus, has also praised the Gallup lockdown as a necessary measure. Gallup's population is about 40 percent Navajo, according to the city.

"We fully support the proactive measures implemented by Gov. Lujan Grisham, at the request of the city of Gallup," Nez said in a statement last week. "We have many members of the Navajo Nation that reside in Gallup and many that travel in the area, and their health and safety is always our top priority."

In a statement shared Tuesday with Law360, Mayor Bonaguidi urged Gallup's neighbors to stay home for the time being.

"We don't want you to come to town and take the virus back to your family by being exposed to someone else who may be sick and doesn't even know," he said. "Gallup welcomes everyone back when the time is right."

There are 2,474 positive cases of COVID-19 and 73 deaths among Navajos living in and around the Navajo reservation as of Monday. The largest Native American reservation in the U.S., it covers parts of Arizona, Utah and New Mexico.

Navajo containment measures have included overnight and weekend curfews during which non-essential travel is prohibited, as well as school and government office closures and a requirement to wear masks in public.

--Editing by Philip Shea.

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