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Puerto Vallarta is our favorite place to visit. But it is not the right place now...

The following article appeared in the Vallarta Daily web page:

PUERTO VALLARTA FORCED BACK INTO PARTIAL CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN

The State Government announced the application of new lockdowns in Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta to slow the spread of Coronavirus.

At the health and economic reactivation meeting, it was established that from December 25 to January 10 there will be a new partial closure of non-essential businesses.

Unlike the previous emergency button, decreed at the end of October, this time public transport will work as usual during that period, including taxi and platform services.

Puerto Vallarta received the least severe lockdown measure with the closure of all bars, nightclubs, and event spaces, and the forced cancelation of any holiday parties at those venues or at hotels.

The focused lockdown of entertainment areas in Puerto Vallarta is designed to discourage travelers, mostly national tourist, from visiting the city during the holiday period for New Year’s celebrations.

Guadalajara didn’t get off so easily. Shopping centers, squares, department stores, gyms, and all businesses in general must close at 7:00 p.m. in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area. Only restaurants will be able to continue operating after these hours through takeout only, no in-restaurant dining.

On weekends, all shopping centers, squares, and flea markets will be closed in the Guadalajara metro area.

The activities that will function normally are convenience stores and neighborhood businesses, hospital services and medical equipment, pharmacies, clinics, laboratories, veterinarians, in addition to industry, food production, security services, basic, civil protection, postal, and courier.

Funeral services, public markets, gas stations, parks, urban forests, and Vía RecreActiva may also operate on a regular basis.

The governor reported that these actions are taken due to the increase in infections, the increase in positivity in tests, and hospital occupancy, which, for the first time, is at 33.2 percent.

He said that the objective is also to create conditions so that on January 11 they review the possibility of a gradual return to face-to-face activity in the education sector.

The previous limited restrictions applied in Jalisco did little to break the transmission rate in the State. In fact, cases have only increased rapidly since the reopening of economic activity at the fastest pace since the beginning of the pandemic.

This is not the time for travel.


We also received today the following from an Aimfair member:

Everyone to save us again, so affirms the government of the state of Jalisco.

From December 25 to January 10.

Jalisco Government Announces New Covid-19 Containment Measures; non-essential activities will end at 7pm and will be limited to weekends
  • The measures, which were proposed to the economic reactivation table by the health table, begin on December 25 and end on January 10 of next year
  • The new guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus will be focused on the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (AMG) and Puerto Vallarta
  • The public transport service will continue to function normally
With the aim of breaking the chain of infections and establishing favorable conditions for returning to classes in January 2021, as well as maintaining the balance between health protection and economic activity, the Governor of Jalisco, Enrique Alfaro Ramírez, announced this Monday containment measures against COVID-19, which implies the closure of non-essential activities at 7 pm; as well as the closing of squares and shopping centers on weekends, and the prohibition of end-of-year parties, among others.

The measures, which were proposed to the economic reactivation table by the health table, begin on December 25 and end on January 10 of next year.

“As we have always done in Jalisco, take preventive measures on days when economic activity is also low. It is the most appropriate time to lower the intensity and prepare for the start of the year, we already have a new decreasing trend in the number of infections. The health table has made the decision to implement new containment measures to have better conditions to be able to analyze the possibility of going back to school, "emphasized the Jalisco president at the health table.

The new guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus will be focused on the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (AMG) and Puerto Vallarta.

For the AMG it was determined that self-service stores, department stores, plazas and shopping centers, shops in general, gyms, commercial corridors, event rooms, clubs, restaurants, food stalls, bars and clubs, end their activities at 07: 00 pm. After this time the restaurants must work behind closed doors and there will only be take away service.

During the weekend the shopping centers, squares and corridors and tianguis will remain closed.

In addition, the suspension was determined, during the entire period of event rooms, open and closed, and of the New Year's parties in hotels, restaurants, bars and clubs.

In Puerto Vallarta, both tables determined the closure of clubs and bars from December 25 to January 10, while the New Year's parties in hotels, lounges and event terraces remain suspended.

The activities that will be able to operate normally are hospital services and medical equipment, pharmacies, clinics, laboratories, veterinarians, convenience stores and neighborhood stores.

The industry, its logistics operation, the production of basic and perishable foods, as well as public and private security services, civil protection, basic services (water, electricity, energy, telecommunications), and postal and courier services, will operate in a normal way.

Gas stations, funeral services, public markets, adjusters, taxi and platform services, public transport, parks, urban forests and Vía RecreActiva may also operate normally.

Regarding social activities, it was determined that only meetings with a maximum capacity of 10 people can be held, with the recommendation that attendees be a maximum of three different dwellings (three families).

Citizens are also asked to minimize meetings in the social sphere (work celebrations, former students, companies, among others) and not go to any family or social gathering for those people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and are still in the period of transmissibility; have symptoms of COVID-19; or are waiting for the results of the coronavirus diagnostic test; or they may have been exposed to someone with coronavirus in the past 14 days.

Festivities such as patron saint festivities and pilgrimages, the absent son party, street parties, fairs or kermesse are suspended, as is the burning of pyrotechnics in public squares or temples, bonfires in public spaces and homes.

The photo booths with the magi, jaripeos, charreadas, cockfighting or bullfights are also suspended from December 25 to January 10.

Permissions for social events (weddings, fifteen years, baptisms, birthdays, New Year's festivities, etc.) are also restricted.

For religious and worship events, capacity is restricted to 25 percent and the disinfection of the premises must be guaranteed after each celebration; Choirs and songs, as well as dancing groups and any manifestation that gathers people, are suspended.

The Health authorities call on the population to follow preventive measures such as going out only when necessary, avoiding closed, crowded places with little ventilation; wear a mask properly (covering the nose and mouth) and wash your hands frequently with soap and water or use alcoholic gel.

In order not to affect the population, the public transport service will continue to function normally, but with the corresponding sanitary measures, so the health authorities call on the population to comply with the use of face masks during all routes, and use of gel, among other preventive measures.

Alfaro Ramírez explained that the current hospital situation, which for the first time exceeds 32 percent by positioning itself at 33.2, the positivity and increase in new cases make these actions necessary.

“We established a few weeks ago, after the Emergency Button, that the indicator that would allow us to make the following decisions would be hospital occupancy, of course we managed to maintain the pace of reactivation and never, until today, 33.2 percent of hospital occupancy was exceeded, ”explained the Governor.

“In the time that remains ahead of us to face the virus, while the entire vaccination process in our State can take place, we will have to carry out an exercise of loosening and tightening when necessary, and we believe that at this time it is essential , to prevent the pandemic from spilling over in Jalisco, and above all, to generate conditions so that on January 11, as we agreed, we will be reviewing the possibility of a gradual return to face-to-face activity in the education sector, we need to take measures from the December 25, and that we can also take pressure off the hospital occupation that may not be compromised in a significant or worrying way, but it is also true, they have not explained it, the level of fatigue, saturation and overload that it has our medical staff, ”added Alfaro Ramírez.
The area is tightening down again. All over Mexico, actually. Although most people who contract the virus get flu like symptoms, older folks are compromised because of a number of factors. Consequently, they are not as well equipped to stave off the impact as younger bodies. So the question becomes, is visiting Vallarta worth taking the risk? Everyone has to reach their own conclusion. The most important advice everyone gives is to be safe!
Many say we are almost there. So, the advice is stay home and tough it out. It is only for another several months. What say you?
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