All eyes have been on the Mexican government for a Thursday announcement if Cancun and the state of Quintana Roo would remain at “Orange” COVID level or move into a lockdown by moving to the “Red” stoplight level. It seems that Cancún has avoided a total lockdown…for now!
ThePointsGuy.com is reporting, “Earlier this week, there were warnings of a potential “imminent” lockdown in Quintana Roo — the Mexican state on the Caribbean coast that’s home to such iconic resort getaways as Cancun, Playa del Carmen in the Riviera Maya and Tulum.
In a video announcement on Thursday, May 20, the governor of the state of Quintana Roo, Carlos Manuel Joaquín González, expressed ongoing concern for the high rate of COVID-19 cases in the area but said these areas would remain in the “orange” designation, and not enter a full lockdown at this time.
On Thursday, May 20, Joaquín said the state of Quintana Roo would lean on five strategic measures (no large gatherings, mask distribution and more) to attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus. But a “red” designation is not out of the question if the situation fails to improve.
The Mexican government uses a so-called stoplight system, which is updated weekly, to determine what is allowed to open and or must remain closed in its states. The four metrics to assess the colors (green, yellow, orange and red) are the trend in numbers of new cases, hospital occupancy trends, current hospital occupancy rates and percentage of positive cases.
Quintana Roo will, for now, remain under the “orange” designation, which means that essential and nonessential labor activities are permitted but with certain limitations. Activities in public spaces are allowed but with restrictions, while activities in closed areas are completely suspended. Tourist activities and hotels and restaurants are currently capped at 50% occupancy.
If Quintana Roo does ever reach the “red” designation, it will go into lockdown. Under the red designation, only essential activities will be allowed and people will be restricted to a walk around their homes during the day.
Nightlife is prominent in places like Tulum and Cancun — popular spring break destinations known for wild parties – and even though bars, nightclubs and other entertainment venues are supposed to be closed at this time, according to the state government, travelers have noted packed bars in the region.
More than 220,000 people have died in Mexico since the start of the pandemic, trailing behind only the U.S., Brazil and India. According to World Health Organization (WHO) data, the country has recorded nearly 2.4 million positive cases.
The situation hasn’t fared much better when looking at Quintana Roo-specific numbers. The state has recorded over 25,000 cases of the coronavirus and nearly 2,700 deaths, though those numbers are likely an undercount.
In December, the CDC assigned Mexico a Level 4 “very high” COVID-19 designation (it’s still at that status) and said that “all travel” to the country should be avoided. The U.S. State Department also assigned Mexico its highest warning, Level 4: Do Not Travel — though most countries are currently at that level.
Stay tuned for my live updates from Grand Palladium Riviera Maya and TRS Yucatán coming in mid June!
Click on the link below for the full story mentioned in this blog post.
https://thepointsguy.com/news/quintana-roo-mexico-lockdown-covid/
