Mexican state of Jalisco enacts restrictions as Covid spikes
Jalisco’s Gov. Enrique Alfaro Ramirez has issued a statewide activity restriction in the face of rising cases of Covid-19. The two-week restrictions will run through Nov. 13, banning nonessential activity from 7 p.m. to 5:59 a.m. Monday through Friday and all day on weekends.
While the destination was awarded the Safe Travel Stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council back in September, Jalisco, and in particular the resort town of Puerto Vallarta, was more aggressive in terms of its reopening protocols. While destinations like Cancun in Quintana Roo and Los Cabos in Baja California Sur reopened more conservatively, limiting capacity at restaurants and leaving most bars and beaches closed to the public, the state of Jalisco reopened far more liberally.
“Regarding what is being open, it’s pretty much everything, to be honest,” Rocio Lancaster, undersecretary of tourism for the state of Jalisco, said during a virtual press conference back in September. While the airports and hotels across the state, especially in Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara, had strict measures for masks and sanitization, photos circulated across social media of crowded beaches, open gyms and bars operating in full force.
Jalisco has some of the highest rates of Covid-19 of any state in Mexico. As of Nov. 2, the New York Times reported, there were more than 34,700 cases in the state, with a daily average of 233 in the past week. Comparatively, Quintana Roo had 13,528 cases and Baja California Sur had 12,709 cases.
As part of the new measures in Jalisco, public transportation service will end at 8 p.m daily. Puerto Vallarta is the only city where activity restrictions will be in place from 7 p.m. to 5:59 a.m. seven days a week, without daytime restrictions on weekends. Hotels will operate normally, only without activities in common areas.
In addition, meetings of more than 10 people indoors and more than 50 people outdoors are prohibited. The closings in Puerto Vallarta specifically include:
- Economic, commercial and service activities, with the exception of industry and hotels
• Mechanical workshops
• Squares, centers and commercial corridors
• Self-service stores, price clubs and department stores
• Public markets and tianguis
• Cultural, recreational and sports activities
• Sports units and urban forests
• Religious activities and ceremonies