Cancun Fun Leads to COVID-19 Wave

Earlier in the newscast, you heard that Belize will be opening its borders to visitors from Mexico at the end of the month, but international media outlets are reporting a steady increase in COVID-19 cases over the past five weeks, attributed to Easter tourism, in the state of Quintana Roo.  In fact, Mexican officials are now on the verge of declaring a full lockdown once more. Quintana Roo is home to the resort areas of Cancun, Cozumel, and Tulum, often called the Riviera Maya.  The increase in COVID cases there stands in sharp contrast to the rest of Mexico which has actually seen a decline.  Because so much of the Quintana Roo’s economy depends on tourism, they never enacted any travel bans or even COVID testing for visitor entry.  Quintana Roo is currently at level orange in Mexico’s COVID-19 ratings and has limited activities in public spaces.  Hotels and restaurants are currently capped at fifty percent occupancy. If the state enters the red zone, they will go back into full lockdown.