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Hi Mexico-loving friends,
Happy New Year!
It's been a whirlwind start to the year for us which has included moving to a totally new-to-us place: Baja California Sur.
If you haven't already checked out my videos from this week, you can find out why we moved here and what our plans are for the next few months by watching these video:
What Does Baja California Sur Look Like Right Now?
Like many states around Mexico, Baja California Sur has created its own ranking system within the federal "traffic light" system that already exists. So according to the federal government, Baja California Sur is in Orange right now.
The system in Baja California is numbered from 1-6 with 1 being the safest and with the fewest precautions being take and 6 being the least safe and with the most precautions being taken.
This week (as of the 15th of January) many of the different municipalities changed their rankings, including both Los Cabos and La Paz. La Paz moved from rating #4 to rating #5 which means that many of the tourist activities are no longer allowed. Things that are STILL OPEN include restaurants (at 30% capacity), hotels, shopping centers and stores, beaches, and all other essential businesses like groceries and pharmacies.
Los Cabos moved from #3 to #4, which means lower capacity at places that are open, but for the most part, tourist activities are still permitted.
If you want to read more about what these numbers mean, the Baja California Sur government website is incredibly thorough. It's in Spanish, but it's easy enough to copy and paste much of what is written into Google Translate if you're unsure.
While I was in La Paz, I recorded a video about what the situation looks like there. The malecon is closed but restaurants are open.
You can watch that video here.
What Does Mexico City Look Like Right Now?
Mexico City has been in a full-on "red" emergency lockdown since just before Christmas. Only essential businesses are allowed to operate in-person such as grocery stores and pharmacies and of course medical clinics and hospitals.
All restaurants are take-out or delivery only. All museums and parks are closed. Many metro and metro-bus stations have been closed or are operating at very restricted hours.
Hospitals are almost completely at capacity in Mexico City. I have linked to a few different articles below if you are interested in reading the current state of things in CDMX:
- CDMX and Estado De Mexico Remain at Red Status for Another Week
- Mexico City Hospital Occupancy Reaches 88%
What's Happening in the Other States Around Mexico?
The state of Guanajuato recently went back into the red. This is where you find the cities of San Miguel de Allende, Leon, and of course, Guanajuato. You can read more about that here.
Queretaro has also recently tightened up restrictions. You can watch this video from fellow Mexico-expat Alex about what restrictions exist in Queretaro as of this past week.
Things are changing pretty quickly around the country at the moment with restrictions. Some places like Oaxaca are actually doing better than they were last year while other places like Baja California, Mexico City, and even Puebla are struggling with huge spikes in case numbers and availability in local hospitals. The best place to keep up to date in English with these changes is Mexico News Daily. They share articles constantly about what is changing around the country.
Changes for Re-Entering the US
Some of you may have already heard, but as of the 21st of January, anyone entering the United States must have proof of a negative Covid test regardless of whether you are a citizen or not. This means if you are leaving Mexico and returning to the US on or after January 21st, you will need to have a Covid test before leaving Mexico.
The US Consulate here in Mexico has conveniently put together a comprehensive list of hospitals all over the country where you can get a Covid test depending on where you will be. You will need to contact the hospitals directly, but it's a great place to get started if you are going to be somewhere in Mexico and aren't sure where to get a Covid test.
You can find that full list here.
I hope you have found this email helpful. It's certainly not the clean slate I'm sure most of us were hoping for in 2021, but I hope that these emails help you all with making whatever decisions you are trying to make about Mexico and where it fits into your life in the coming months.
As always, if you have any questions at all, please feel free to hit reply and ask away.
Speak soon,
Laura
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