Cancún and Quintana Roo face third wave of Covid-19

Due to the arrival of tourists and the relaxation of health measures, Cancun and all of Quintana Roo face a rebound in Covid-19.

Until now, Quintana Roo, in the Mexican Caribbean, is the only state in the country that remains orange (high risk) on the epidemiological traffic light, because it faces an increase in infections, mainly among people between 24 and 46 years old, a situation which, according to the Mexican Ministry of Health, is due to the fact that it is going through a third wave of infections.

Until May 28, the entity recorded 2,770 deaths and 26,752 positive cases of coronavirus, with a higher incidence in the municipalities of the northern zone, including Benito Juárez, which hosts the Cancún resort.

Faced with the risk that it will regress to red (maximum risk) and thus return to confinement and the closure of non-essential businesses, the government of Quintana Roo ordered emerging strategies to limit mobility, reduce capacity in public places and apply 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 the hotel zone of Cancun, the application of health measures has been relaxed in closed public spaces such as restaurants and transportation.

In shopping malls and public parks, it is common to see large concentrations, including people without face masks, in addition to not respecting healthy distance and basic protocols such as taking temperatures and applying antibacterial gel.

In a report released this week in Mexico City, the general director of Epidemiology of the Mexican Ministry of Health, José Luis Alomía, said that Quintana Roo “faces a third wave of the pandemic.”

He noted that, in coordination with the local government, stricter health measures would be implemented that include restrictions on mobility in public spaces.

Lack of responsibility

In an interview with Efe, a funeral services executive in Cancun, Ángel Rodrigo Baeza, pointed out that deaths from Covid have increased in recent weeks.

“Currently we are a little high, we serve three or two families a day only for deaths due to Covid,” said Baeza, a worker at one of the 10 funeral homes that operate in Cancun.

For him, the causes of the increase in positive cases and also deaths are related to the lack of surveillance by the authorities in areas with a high risk of contagion.

“It is a part that the government has to see, I too as a citizen have noticed this lack of interest in carrying out the operations or some urgent call so that there is no overcrowding in public transportation,” he indicated.

For the worker “there was a lot of disinterest” in a state in which the tourism sector stands out and millions of families depend on it.

“We have all lacked responsibility in taking care of ourselves and taking the necessary measures, but the authority also failed to sanction businesses that did not comply,” he added.

Less strict measures

For Anny and Daniel Norgaard, a young couple from Denmark who recently arrived in Cancun on vacation and plan to spend a month touring Mexico, the measures in the country are less strict than other places in the world.

“I see that there are many people who use face masks and it seems that they are well informed, compared to other countries, if you are walking alone you do not have to wear a face mask unless you are with other people,” Anny said in an interview with Efe.

But for her husband Daniel, in Cancun, health measures are less strict than in other countries they have visited.

“People feel a little relaxed, some use the mask, some don't, you can see that people are very relaxed, it can be good and it can be bad,” he noted.

He recalled that in Denmark “the restrictions are stricter but here it is more loose (relaxed), there can be many people in the same place, the restaurants are open, the small shops are open, so I think the restrictions are less and "They can do more things, of course there is a risk of contracting the disease."

High risk

For his part, the governor of the entity, Carlos Joaquín González, announced that Quintana Roo will continue in the orange color (high risk) until June 6, when electoral elections are held in which 11 municipal presidencies and councils will be elected. federal in the entity.

Despite the announced restrictions, a series of promotions offered by restaurants to celebrate International Hamburger Day this Saturday caused long lines outside fast food establishments in various parts of the city, which led to the closure of establishments and the application of fines.

At the local level, the vaccination of people of different age ranges accumulates about 325,000.

But despite these factors, the Cancun international airport maintains an average of 200 arrival and departure operations per day, with increases during the weekends, especially for international flights that continue looking for a break in the jewel of the Mexican Caribbean. .