Mexico Update: 50,000 new cases & CDMX Regresses to Yellow

Hi Mexico-loving friends! Cases and hospitalizations continue to increase across Mexico. This week several states have changed colors in the country's traffic light system.  For the first time in several months, there is now a state in the "Red" on the coronavirus risk map.  Another state has announced it will begin requiring covid passes to enter certain establishments. While this email isn't packed with great news, it is packed with information that I hope will help you make decisions about your travels around Mexico and helps you stay informed about what is happening around the country at the moment.

Traffic Light Changes

For those that are new around here, last year Mexico's federal government created a traffic light system to help businesses and people understand the risks of Covid-19 in each state around Mexico. It was then up to the state governments to decide how to interpret these traffic light colors. Currently, red means the highest risk of covid and that hospitals are near capacity. It means that capacity at restaurants and hotels is lowered. In some places, it will mean that you will not be able to sit inside a restaurant at all, but only place an order for take-out (unless they have outdoor seating available). For the next two weeks, Aguascalientes will be in the red. Orange is a level below red status and means that there is still a high risk of covid-19 and many restrictions are still in place. The federal government has given control to the state governments to decide how they implement these colors and what restrictions should be in place. These are the states that will remain in orange with a risk of possibly moving into the red because of continued increases in severe cases and hospitals becoming overrun. The states that are currently orange are Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Sonora, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Baja California, Durango, Zacatecas, and Quintana Roo (home to Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum).  Baja California Sur (home to Los Cabos, La Paz, and Todos Santos) continues to have the highest number of cases per capita with over 1,000 cases for every 100,000 people.  Yellow means lower risk level and most places are allowed to have up to 50% capacity. States in yellow are allowed to have fans at sporting events and bars are allowed to be open (in some states clubs are also open in Yellow). Museums and other tourist attractions can be back open with restrictions. The states currently in yellow are Mexico City, Mexico State, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Jalisco, Morelos, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, and Yucatán. Green means that there is a very low risk of Covid, that many places can have more than 75% capacity and almost all services can resume. Precautions like masks and temperature checks are still being taken, especially when going indoors. There are now four states currently in the green. The states that remain green are Oaxaca, Chiapas, Campeche, Colima, Nayarit, Michoacan, Guerrero, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, Tabasco, and Veracruz. You can view the full map on the government website here. Having said all of this, the day-to-day living in many of these states hasn't changed much between green and yellow or yellow and orange. As a tourist, you likely wouldn't even notice many changes except for those places that are now take-out only. That is why I ALWAYS suggest speaking to someone who is one the ground in the location you are planning to visit so that you can get a really clear picture of what "yellow" looks like in CDMX and what "orange" looks like in Los Cabos. I've listed contacts below for many of the most popular places in Mexico.

Other Covid-Related Mexico News

The Mazatlan government continues to monitor the situation before making any cancellations on this year's Carnival, which is set to take place February 24-March 1. The government has said that if the state is in the "green" on the traffic light system, they will go ahead with it. You can keep up with any announcements about carnival here. If you are a resident of Mexico and you are over the age of 40 and interested in receiving a booster shot, you can register for that here. After Baja California (home to Tijuana and Ensenada) announced that they will be requiring vaccine certificates or negative covid tests in order for patrons to visit bars, nightclubs, and some other venues, Jalisco followed suit. As of the 14th of January, patrons must show proof of vaccination or a negative covid test taken within the last 48 hours in order to enter bars, nightclubs, casinos, stadiums, and convention centers in the state of Jalisco.  You can read more about these new rules here.

Expats & Locals Around Mexico

As always with Mexico, I highly recommend seeking out people who are currently living in the places that you want to visit. With Covid rules changing constantly and safety issues cropping up every now and again, only people who are on the ground there living it every day can share with you what's really happening. For updates about Mexico City, as always I recommend following Ubish Yaren on Instagram. You can also follow Anais of The Curious Mexican for updates on the restaurant and food scene in Mexico City and what is back open. For information about what's going on in and around Puerto Vallarta, be sure to follow along with the Kinetic Kennons on YouTube. For updates about what's going on in Oaxaca, Susan of Brooklyn Tropicali has been sharing her updates of what's going on around the city and state of Oaxaca. Trisha of PS I'm On My Way currently lives in Cabo San Lucas and can share some insights into what is happening there with you. Check out her website here. For regular updates about life in Merida and around the Yucatan, check out Mexico Cassie who has also recently written a fantastic guide about Traveling Yucatan with Kids. Shelley of Travel Mexico Solo also shares her experiences in Merida and around the Yucatan. Her Instagram is a particularly good resource for what she's seeing at the moment. The Yucatan Times is the local English newspaper in Merida that shares local updates and news reports. To keep up with what's going on in and around Querétaro, follow Alex of the Backpacking Brunette. Vallarta Daily is the local English news there where you can learn about any changes in the situation in Puerto Vallarta and the surrounding Nayarit beach towns as well. Janine Around the World is traveling around the Riviera Maya at the moment sharing her experiences on her blog and Instagram. Riviera Maya News is the local English newspaper there where you can keep up with changes. I believe this is the region that is changing the most in regards to safety at the minute and if you plan to independently travel here (renting a car and exploring without tours or away from resorts), then I highly recommend speaking to someone who is there right now. The Mexican government's Coronavirus website is a huge resource for those that are currently living in Mexico and want to know more about what's happening in their state. As always, a great place to keep up to date with news about what's happening all over Mexico in English is Mexico News Daily.

Visiting Mexico Soon?

If you are planning a trip to Mexico soon, I hope you'll have a browse of the different Mexico guides on my blog or have a search through my YouTube videos to help you plan your trip! I also have FOUR extensive guidebooks available for Baja California Sur (brand new and published in July 2021!), Mexico City (updated this year with tons of new content!), Merida, and Guanajuato! If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to email me by simply hitting reply on this email. I hope you all had a happy and healthy start to 2022. Speak soon and safe travels, Laura

Eternal Expat Principal 20 CDMX Mexico