New restrictions on travel to the coronavirus in the United States are likely to have an extraordinary impact in Mexico, which is also battling an uncontrolled outbreak of the virus and record deaths.
Among the flood of executive orders from Joe Biden on Thursday was a new set of rules requiring all travelers entering the United States by sea, air or land to provide evidence of a recent negative and self-quarantine or self coronavirus test. -insulation after entry. The executive action also instructs federal authorities to work with the governments of Mexico and Canada to devise a coordinated border crossing plan.
So far, Mexico has also been an isolated case worldwide in refusing to implement restrictions on international air passengers, while President Andrés Manuel López Obrador gives a mild response to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, hospitals are overwhelmed by the increasing number of cases, and this week, Mexico established two daily coronavirus mortality records.
But, even with the increase in fatalities, the country monopolized the market by offering unrestricted trips to international tourists. During the winter holidays, foreign and domestic tourists flocked to beach resorts and other important destinations.
The new US rules – and similar measures introduced this month by Canada – may ultimately lead Mexican lawmakers to embrace science – or face a loss of tourism and international mobility.
But developing a coordinated approach with Mexico can be difficult: López Obrador consistently downplayed the severity of the pandemic and, after building an unexpectedly positive relationship with Donald Trump, remained unmoved by the new U.S. government.
Mexican health officials have refused to implement a series of evidence-based pandemic response measures, such as mass testing. (Despite the severity of its outbreak, Mexico has one of the lowest test rates in the world.)
Dr. Laurie Ann Ximénez-Fyvie, director of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), believes that the country’s failure to establish an adequate testing network will make meeting new US travel requirements a challenge .
“The simple fact of meeting the demand for passengers traveling abroad will be a terrible problem when the test capacity is not at the required level,” said Ximénez-Fyvie. “The numbers just don’t add up because the testing capacity in Mexico is very low.”
Together, the US and Canada represent most of Mexico’s economically important international tourism sector. Mexico is also home to the largest population of American citizens living abroad.
Travelers to Mexico must complete a health questionnaire, but there are no test requirements for entry, nor quarantine rules on arrival. Without government leadership, private companies are struggling to meet demand.
Federal data shows that the state of Quintana Roo – home to Cancún – generally reports only hundreds of test results per day.
Adolfo Castro, CEO of Aeropuertos del Sureste (Asur), which operates the busy international airport at the tourist hub, noted that the new rule will significantly and rapidly increase demand. “If you add 15,000 to the normal situation [air passengers] one day, then you have to do something and you have to react. “
The Quintana Roo state government recently opened temporary test sites in the tourist cities of Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum. Castro’s company is in talks with local hotels to help passengers get tested within the 72-hour window before their departure flights. He is also looking for an accredited laboratory to perform antigen tests at the airport’s site.
The new test requirements have also fueled speculation that non-accredited laboratories or doctors that meet tourist prescription requirements may create a new black market for falsified test results or medical documentation.
Dr. Ximénez-Fyvie said that Mexico’s extensive networks of public and private laboratories could easily cover the demand for accelerated testing, but what was lacking was the materials for testing the tests and the political will to coordinate the effort.
“It’s not that we don’t have the resources, the skills or the infrastructure,” said Ximénez-Fyvie. “The problem here has been an unwillingness to get it done.”