This article was written yesterday: Tulum and Cancun could go into ‘imminent’ lockdown — even as travelers are flocking there Tulum and Cancun could go into ‘imminent’ lockdown — even as travelers are flocking there Here is the text: "With its proximity to the United States, cheap flights on multiple airlines and relaxed entry requirements, Americans have traveled to destinations across Mexico throughout the pandemic. And few areas may be as popular with sun-seeking tourists as 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. Unfortunately, travelers with upcoming trips to Quintana Roo may see their plans in jeopardy as the state’s governor debates a lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Here’s what you need to know if you’re considering a trip. A COVID-19 surge in Quintana Roo According to the Associated Press, Quintana Roo Gov. Carlos Joaquín said last Thursday the state has seen five weeks of increases in cases, and blamed the surge partly on Easter travel. And now, the state is at risk of imposing an “immediate lockdown.” “We knew that there were large risks during Easter week, that there could be a greater number of infections. Unfortunately, that came to pass,” Joaquín said, according to the AP. The Mexican government uses a so-called stoplight system, which is frequently updated, 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 is currently 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. Nightlife is prominent in places like Tulum and Cancun — popular spring break destinations known for wild parties, but travelers headed there now will have to enjoy their piña coladas in their hotel rooms. Bars, nightclubs and other entertainment venues are closed at this time, according to the state government. 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. The COVID-19 situation in Quintana Roo is a messy confluence of the state’s reliance on tourism, easy entry requirements and pandemic fatigue from foreign travelers. A report from Airlines for America found that Mexico was the “clear leader” in international travel in April, with most of those travelers being U.S. citizens. Tourism is the region’s bread and butter, and the pandemic decimated the industry — which relies on American and other foreign tourists. When travel dried up at the onset of the pandemic last year, Quintana Roo was among the hardest hit, losing almost 64,000 jobs in about a month. Around half of Cancun’s economy is directly supported by travel and tourism, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), and over 40% of jobs directly support the industry. The organization in 2018 named Cancun the world’s most tourism-dependent city. And Mexico never closed its borders, unlike many other countries during the pandemic. Americans flocked to Mexico, and the Quintana Roo area in particular, during the pandemic because of inexpensive flights and cheap hotels. Nearly 1 million international travelers flew into Cancun (CUN) airport, the largest airport in the region, in April of this year, according to Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste, known as ASUR, an international airport group in Mexico, the U.S. and Colombia. Flights are relatively affordable, with several of the U.S.’s largest airports offering nonstop flights to Cancun, often as low as $200 round-trip. And the airlines are taking advantage of the increased demand: Frontier, for instance, reportedly doubled international flights to destinations to Cancun and Cozumel, according to Cirium, and airlines are flying full planes to Mexico due to interest from travelers. Traveling to Mexico has also been relatively easy, compared to other international destinations. Beach-goers and holiday-seekers who arrive in Mexico are not required to self-quarantine or show proof of a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival. However, travelers may be subject to health screenings at airports and other points of entry. This is different from entry requirements for the U.S. and Canada, which require negative COVID-19 tests to enter their borders, even for fully vaccinated travelers. Having a COVID-19 vaccine is also not a requirement like it is for other international destinations. And even precautions that have been put in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, such as physical distancing, may be more relaxed or not as strongly enforced. Last November, a large music party in Tulum turned into an international superspreader event after several guests contracted the virus and brought it back to cities like New York. Other over-capacity parties have been shut down, even though there’s a ban on nightlife. It’s clear that Quintana Roo is in a precarious position, balancing public health with the need for tourism in popular destinations like Tulum and Playa Del Carmen. But what has become clear is that there’s limited time for the region to get back on track, before it faces its worst surge in COVID-19 cases yet."
yup hubs saw that .. they are hoping to get memorial day under the books before they have to close hopefully it won't happen
Nothing is closing. Just the shit media stirring shit as usual. They want people to panic as much as possible for as long as possible, don't let them sway you. You won't see them print anything about 100,000+ people (including me) in Cancun being vaccinated this week alone. Hahahahahaha
The media is always trying to sway you, but according to reports on May 17th only about 230k people total have been vaccinated in Cancun out of 1.8 million people so about 7.8%. The issue is Quintana Roo has 5 weeks straight of increased infection rates, and is only 1 of 3 states in the Orange, at least this is what's being reported. I really hope they don't go to Red level since that will drop resorts down to 15% capacity. But since its the Gov Carlos Joaquin that is the stating this info on his twitter and to the press I think Quintana Roo is heading towards level red soon even if it is the media/gov trying to blow it out of proportion. Honestly think Mexico needs a to enforce a negative test result or vaccination requirement to enter the country since so many people are traveling there since its really just a yes/no screening to fly into Mexico, same as it was last year.
@wthomtx You seem informed and are following the right news sources, rather than reading Kashlee's travel blog written from her bedroom with a scary headline that she hopes goes viral on Facebook to increase her ad revenue. The only thing Kashlee cares about is whether she makes $10 or $20 per day from her ads. A few things I'd add. The population of the State (Quintana Roo) is 1.8 Million, not the population of Cancun. Cancun is about half of that so 900,000. The other half live elsewhere in the State. Re vaccinations - the State has been vaccinating by age group starting with the oldest and often in the more remote areas first (outside of Cancun) as they have less access to healthcare. The figure you quote from May 17 could well be true, but it is certainly going to change this week. This week, vaccinations were offered to the 50-59 age group in Cancun (which includes me). There are 6 what they call 'domes' across the city, and vaccinations are being done Tue/Wed/Thur. I went yesterday and got mine (Pfizer). I arrived at 2pm and got home at 8pm, there were so many people. Queued for 6 hrs in the blazing sun. I asked the nurse how many people they were vaccinating today, and she said around 8,000. If we are to assume that every "dome" was just as busy 8,000 x 6 = 48,000 per day. Multiply that by 3 days - that's another 144,000 people vaccinated in Cancun this week. That will add a real boost to the percentages. All teachers in Cancun were offered a vaccine as well this week, regardless of their age. This was separate to the general populace and adds several thousand more. As for Carlos Joaquin he said there was a spike after Easter and that cases are rising again week by week. He basically said that everyone needed to up their precautions to avoid us going red. The media grabbed hold of that and said the Governor says that Cancun will be going red. I have had 20 or so messages in the last 2 days from people fearful of their trip being cancelled due to media exaggeration. Joaquin (realizing the press) posted on his Twitter yesterday that there is a lot of false news about and that Cancun is Orange, not Red. Capacities: We haven't been red before but when Cancun reopened last June after a 3 month shutdown (before the semaforo system existed) hotel capacities were 30% not 15%. No Cancun hotel can operate at 15%, and can barely operate at 30% - only with much reduced service and amenities. It's not going to happen. Even so, Temptation was at 100% just 3 weeks after the 3 month shutdown for July 4th. The first Orange semaforo capacities were officially 50%. Of course TTR were way over that many times. When we went to Yellow, hotel capacities were 60% and TTR was well over that being sold out at weekends for around 12 weeks straight. We regressed to Orange and capacities were not reduced the first week (I think they forgot to change the graphic!). The second week of Orange the graphic was changed from 60-50%. Of course TTR was it's normal 100%. Point being - the semaforo doesn't seem to have any effect on hotel capacities at all. Bars and Clubs are supposed to be closed even now. They simply started offering food, and became 'restaurants'. Right or wrong, we don't have the luxury of countries such as the US or the UK with rapid vaccine availability and dissemination, nor the financial cushion of stimulus/furlough (UK) for those out of work as a result. We don't produce vaccines like the US and UK do, and are not at the front of the line. We get the scraps. As the 'superpowers' achieve their high vaccination rates, we will get more and more scraps and our vaccination rates will follow yours sooner rather than later. Mexico does Mexico, and I love this country for it. So far, I think they have done a great job all things considered. The semaforo (traffic light) is updated weekly every Thursday at around 8pm. We will see tomorrow, but I will be amazed if Cancun goes Red. Joaquin is the one that decides if we go red, and we won't. It will kill the place for 3 months, and the Governor is not going to do that. He'll never be re-elected again! Of course, I could be wrong. But I doubt it.
Here is a chart of official numbers Covid Trends Now why would Mexico go into lockdown when they are far better than the US and Canada?
