Some municipalities in Quintana Roo, Veracruz and Oaxaca are implementing strict measures to prevent the introduction of Covid-19, including banning the entry of all tourists and non-local vehicles.

Citizens in the municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas, Quintana Roo, agreed yesterday that tourists would not be permitted to traverse the highway leading to the port of Chiquilá, where a ferry runs to Isla Holbox.

Only local residents with identification, vehicles carrying visitors leaving Holbox, workers and people with a medical condition will be allowed to pass.

“… not one more tourist, local or foreign …” will be permitted, residents said, explaining that they wish to “keep things the way they are.” The decision to close access to the community was reached unanimously at a residents’ meeting.

In Veracruz, authorities in the coastal municipality of Tecolutla announced that no tourists or outside vehicles will be allowed in and advised tourism service providers not to accept any reservations until further notice.

“The coming weeks are crucial to avoid massive spread. Let’s remember that together we can overcome this risk,” Mayor Juan Ángel Espejo Bovio said in a message posted to social media.

Farther north in Veracruz, the mayor of Tamiahua, a municipality 140 kilometers south of Tampico, Tamaulipas, announced an even more drastic measure.

Citlali Medellín said that community guards would prevent the entry of outsiders to 71 different communities in Tamiahua.

Each contingent will be made up of five to 10 guards depending on the size of the community and the number of roads leading into it, she said.

In Zongolica, Veracruz, located 40 kilometers south of Córdoba, authorities are not banning the entry of tourists but they have set up checkpoints where their temperatures are checked to determine if they are suffering a fever.

“This disease will not defeat us,” Mayor Juan Carlos Mezhua said in a social media post.

In the neighboring state of Oaxaca, authorities in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec municipalities of Santiago Laollaga and San Juan Guichicovi have banned the entry of cargo trucks traveling from central Mexico, while in Santiago Astata, also on the isthmus, taxi drivers have been ordered not to take foreigners to the beach.

In Santiago Lalopa, located 140 kilometers northeast of Oaxaca city in the Sierra Norte region, authorities have announced that any former locals who now live in other parts of the country and wish to visit must provide a medical certificate that shows they do not have Covid-19. As coronavirus testing can be difficult to access, the measure is likely to dissuade potential visitors.

Meanwhile in Capulálpam, a community in the Sierra Norte municipality of Ixtlán, authorities have imposed a 10:00 p.m.-6:00 a.m. curfew and announced that access for residents will be via a single road.

There were seven confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Veracruz as of Monday and three in Oaxaca. Health authorities announced Monday night that there were 367 confirmed cases in the country and 826 suspected cases. Four people have died.

Source: Reforma (sp), El Universal (sp)