Sun, sand and surf worshippers flocked to the beach in Guasave, Sinaloa, over the weekend despite the municipality having the third highest coronavirus tally in the northern state.
About 7,000 people descended on Las Glorias beach, located on the Gulf of California coast approximately 40 kilometers southwest of the city of Guasave. The beach was especially busy on Sunday, the newspaper La Jornada reported.
Videos that circulated on social media showed crowds of people, making it impossible for them to observe social distancing recommendations.
Musical groups mingled among the throngs, adding to the carefree atmosphere.
Upon observation of the beach scenes, one could be forgiven for thinking that the coronavirus pandemic had spared Guasave, one of 18 municipalities in Sinaloa.
However, Guasave has recorded 1,471 confirmed cases of Covid-19, the third highest number in Sinaloa after state capital Culiacán and the resort city of Mazatlán, where 3,121 and 1,492 people, respectively, have tested positive, according to federal data.
With 9,163 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 1,434 fatalities as of Monday, Sinaloa has the ninth highest case tally in the country and sixth highest death toll.
The risk of coronavirus infection is still at the “red light” maximum level in Sinaloa, according to the federal government’s “stoplight” system, but even so Las Glorias beach was reopened to the public on July 1 after being closed for the previous three months.
Sinaloa’s southern neighbor, Nayarit, is also a “red light” state but that didn’t stop residents organizing large events over the weekend.
In the municipality of Santiago Ixcuintla, police put an end to a soccer match at a local field where more than 70 people had gathered, while authorities intervened to prevent a volleyball tournament from going ahead in neighboring Ruíz.
In Tepic, the state capital, some 30 people attending a street party were dispersed by authorities.
The flouting of restrictions in Nayarit came just a week after Governor Antonio Echevarría García called on citizens to act responsibly amid the growing coronavirus pandemic in the Pacific coast state.
Nayarit has recorded 2,055 confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic and 217 deaths, according to state government data.
Meanwhile, coronavirus restrictions have been tightened in Quintana Roo capital Chetumal due to an increase in case numbers.
Quintana Roo security chief Alberto Capella said that a quarantine would be reimposed at 11:00 p.m. Monday in the municipality of Othón P. Blanco, of which Chetumal is part. He said that the stay-at-home directive came from Governor Carlos Joaquín González.
Othón P. Blanco has recorded 859 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 44 deaths, according to state data. Hospitals in the municipality currently have an average occupancy rate of 59%.
Quintana Roo, also home to the tourist destinations of Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, has recorded 4,333 cases and 628 deaths since the start of the pandemic. “Orange light” restrictions currently apply in the Caribbean coast state.
Source: La Jornada (sp), Milenio (sp)
