RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – While the rest of Mexico controls the pandemic, Cancún and Quintana Roo face a “third wave” of Covid-19, as recognized by the Government, and have become a red focus in the midst of the increasing arrival of international tourism.
So far, Quintana Roo, in the Mexican Caribbean, is the only state in the country still in orange (high risk) on the epidemiological traffic light because it is facing an increase in infections, mainly among people between 24 and 46 years of age, a situation which, according to the Mexican Health Ministry, is because it is going through a third wave of infections.
As of May 28, it registered 2,770 deaths and 26,752 positive cases of coronavirus, with a higher incidence in the municipalities of the northern zone, among them Benito Juarez, which is home to the beach resort of Cancún.
Given the risk of the virus restrictions going back to red (maximum risk) and with it a return to confinement and the closing of non-essential businesses, the Government of Quintana Roo ordered emergency strategies to limit mobility, the reduction of capacity in public places, and the application of stricter measures in the public transportation system, considered one of the main sources of contagion.
However, in the opinion of tourists and local citizens, both in the city and in Cancun’s hotel zone, the application of sanitary measures has been relaxed in closed public spaces such as restaurants and transportation.
In commercial plazas and public parks, it is common to observe large concentrations, including people without masks. The proper social distance is not respected, and basic protocols such as temperature taking and application of antibacterial gel are not complied with.
In a report released this week in Mexico City, the General Director of Epidemiology of the Mexican Ministry of Health, José Luis Alomía, stated that Quintana Roo “faces a third wave of the pandemic”.
LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY
In an interview, a person in charge of funeral services in Cancun, Angel Rodrigo Baeza, pointed out that deaths due to covid have increased in the last few weeks. “Currently, we are a little high, we attend three or two families a day only for death due to covid,” said Baeza, a worker at one of the ten funeral homes operating in Cancun.
“We have all lacked responsibility in taking care of ourselves and taking the necessary measures, but the authorities also failed to sanction the businesses that did not comply,” he said.
LESS STRICT MEASURES
For Anny and Daniel Norgaard, a young couple from Denmark who have just arrived in Cancun on vacation and plan to spend a month touring Mexico, the measures in the country are less strict than in other places in the world.
Daniel said that in Cancun, sanitary measures are less strict than in other countries they have visited.
HIGH RISK
The governor of the state, Carlos Joaquín González, announced that Quintana Roo would remain in orange (high risk) until June 6, when electoral elections will be held in eleven municipal boroughs and federal deputies will be elected.
Despite the announced restrictions, a series of promotions offered by restaurants to celebrate International Hamburger Day caused long lines outside fast-food establishments in several points of the city, which resulted in the closing of establishments and the application of fines.
Despite everything, Cancún’s international airport maintains an average of 200 arrivals and departures per day, with increases during weekends, especially international flights that are still looking for a haven in the jewel of the Mexican Caribbean.