Authorities in Jalisco will implement a range of special measures over the Easter vacation period to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Health Minister Fernando Petersen announced Wednesday that health checkpoints will be set up on highways and in airports and bus stations to detect possible cases.

He also said that people will only be allowed on beaches in the state between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. during Holy Week and that hotel occupancy in tourist destinations such as coastal resorts, magical towns and the Lake Chapala area will be limited to 66%. Restaurants and bars will be required to close by 11:00 p.m.

All large-scale religious activities such as processions, pilgrimages and re-enactments will not be allowed but churches will be open with strict capacity limits in place.

In the lead-up to Good Friday, the Jalisco government will deploy officials to seafood markets to ensure that people respect the health protocols and that entry is restricted to avoid overcrowding. The government will also ramp up Covid-19 testing over the Easter period to detect and isolate cases.

Government official Alejandro Guzmán said that all businesses across the state will be required to strengthen their health protocols over Easter, a time during which their customer levels might increase.

Jalisco has recorded more than 223,000 coronavirus cases, according to the state government, which unlike the federal government counts the results of rapid tests and those from private laboratories. The state’s Covid-19 death toll is 10,512, the third highest in the country after Mexico City and México state.

The occupancy rate for general care beds set aside for coronavirus patients in Jalisco hospitals is 20% while 29% of beds with ventilators are in use.

The pandemic has hit Guadalajara harder than any other municipality in the state, with 35% of all cases in Jalisco detected in the state capital. The municipalities with the next highest number of cases – Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, Tonalá and Tlajomulco de Zúñiga – are all located in the Guadalajara metropolitan area.

Puerto Vallarta, the state’s premier tourist destination, ranks sixth for case numbers with 6,562 as of Wednesday.

Source: El Financiero (sp)