Scenes of American tourists violating Covid-19’s measures and mandates while visiting Puerto Rico have sparked outrage among residents concerned that their efforts to control the pandemic may be undermined as more visitors arrive on spring break.
Israel Meléndez Ayala, 34, a longtime resident of Old San Juan, saw many tourists without a mask when he and his partner went for a walk this week.
“They were behaving as if no one else existed in Old San Juan,” Meléndez Ayala told NBC News. “I have no problem with people trying to have fun, but they have to be respectful – we are still living in the middle of a pandemic and people cannot come here and act as if the virus does not exist … They have a sense of right and apathy that I don’t understand. “
Puerto Ricans across the United States have so far avoided overburdening their already fragile health care system during the pandemic, mainly because of extraordinary measures that the local government has implemented since the beginning – and the willingness of people to comply with them. Puerto Rico was one of the first jurisdictions in the United States to issue a mask mandate and currently has the longest pandemic curfew compared to any state.
A series of viral videos showed tourists violating the island’s midnight curfew, the mask’s mandate and physical distance guidelines, among other restrictions. Other videos show disorderly tourists getting into fights, dancing on top of moving vehicles and destroying private properties around the metropolitan area of Puerto Rico, including famous sights. One of the most viral videos showed a tourist riding a scooter in the middle of a busy highway in San Juan, the capital.
“We are seeing a chaotic situation, something we have never seen before,” Oscar Medina, a San Juan resident, told WKAQ, the local TV news station on NBC’s sister network, Telemundo, in Puerto Rico. “Most tourists in Old San Juan and Condado act aggressively at night, don’t wear masks and leave garbage behind,” he said.
Another resident who lives in an Airbnb apartment in Old San Juan, Evelyn López, said that tourists who stay there often hear “loud music, talking loudly and getting involved in altercations”.
“At night here, it’s almost like we don’t have a curfew,” López told WKAQ. “Especially on weekends, people go until 1, 2 and 3 am”. Currently the island has a curfew at midnight.
With many travel around the world limited, Puerto Rico is becoming a popular destination for Americans on the continent.
“Because of the cheap flights, we are receiving tourists that we are not used to seeing,” said Dr. Victor Ramos, president of the Puerto Rico medical association and a member of groups of science experts who advise Governor Pedro Pierluisi.
At the beginning of the pandemic, most cases of community dissemination on the island may be linked to the main airport in Puerto Rico, mainly from mainland Puerto Ricans traveling to the island, Ramos said. But Puerto Rico has not seen an increase in cases since December, reporting its lowest positive rate in February (5.2 percent) since Covid-19’s deaths increased around Thanksgiving.
As Puerto Rico continues to reopen and welcome more tourists, experts and residents fear that travelers’ reluctance to follow Covid-19 protocols could reverse some of the progress they have made so far.
A call to action
Nearly 130 residents in Old San Juan met on Thursday and asked authorities to take steps to control the behavior of tourists and visitors who refuse to comply with Covid-19 protocols. During the meeting, residents said they had witnessed cases in which the police “said nothing” to tourists who misbehaved or saw tourists continue to ignore Covid’s protocols after the police confronted them.
“It looks like we are not responding to the incidents, but we really are,” Commissioner Antonio López Figueroa said days earlier about the situation. He encouraged residents who register the incidents to contact the police immediately to ensure that officers can respond to the scene.
Last weekend, the police issued more than 500 fines, including 110 for not wearing a mask, said López Figueroa. Puerto Rican police have pledged to increase their presence in tourist areas such as Condado, Old San Juan, Santurce and Isla Verde to ensure that tourists follow the curfew.
Since the start of the pandemic, at least 1,079 people have been arrested for violating Covid-19 restrictions imposed by executive orders, said López Figueroa last week, adding that Puerto Rican police have received at least 3,689 complaints about Covid- 19.
As the police increase their presence, local businesspeople in Santurce said in a statement that they are concerned that issues surrounding tourist behavior and the ensuing crackdown will affect their business.
“We are not to blame for the lack of guidance and the bad behavior of tourists,” said the La Placita de Santurce Merchants Association in a Facebook post.
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company announced this week that it has launched an educational campaign in English to warn tourists about the island’s Covid-19 restrictions and the consequences of not following the rules.
At the same time, the governor of Puerto Rico said on Thursday that he sees the expected increase in tourism as “something positive”.
“These visits have an impact on our economy,” said Governor Pierluisi. “Yes, everyone is welcome, but what we warn everyone about is that there is an executive order that must be followed and applies to everyone, from visitors to residents. “
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