A recent peer reviewed study carried out by researchers at Stanford University examined the effects of stay‐at‐home orders and business closures to limit Covid-19 spread. The study found no significant benefits from such severe government mandates compared to areas that had less restrictive pandemic protocols. The study compared countries that enforced mandatory lockdowns, such as England and Italy, with countries that focused on voluntary responses, such as South Korea and Sweden. “We do not question the role of all public health interventions, or of coordinated communications about the epidemic, but we fail to find an additional benefit of stay-at-home orders and business closures,” the research stated.

One of the priorities NMBC identified for New Mexico Legislators this session is to provide a balance of power between the legislative and executive branches so that extensions of emergency health orders are not unilaterally issued. A study by Stanford University supports NMBC’s contention that the severe ’emergency’ mandates in our state that have decimated all but big box stores and put 125,000 New Mexicans on unemployment are doing more harm than good. Read a brief on the study HERE and news coverage HERE.