Hi Mexico-loving friends,
I hope this email finds you well.
Once again, there have been a lot of changes in the traffic light system here in Mexico. Thankfully, this week, those changes are positive ones.
However, Mexico is talking of possibly changing its restrictions on incoming visitors. Up until now, there have been almost zero restrictions on anyone entering Mexico. However, soon they may be asking travelers to have a vaccine card or negative Covid test before arrival.
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, there will be no states in the high-risk "red" category.
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 have given control over 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: Sonora, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, Veracruz, Colima, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, México state, Guerrero, Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala, Hidalgo, and Querétaro.
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. Baja California, Baja California Sur, Sinaloa, Durango, Coahuila, Nayarit, Zacatecas, Jalisco, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Mexico City, Oaxaca, and Quintana Roo.
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 taken, especially indoors. There are now two states currently in the green. Those states are Chiapas and Chihuahua.
You can read more about the nation's traffic light changes in this article.
Latest Mexico Content
As for Mexico content, I have slowed a little bit as I focus more on the backend side of my blog. I have recently updated tons of old posts about Mexico, in particular, posts about Mexico City. If you are planning a trip to CDMX in the coming weeks, I hope you'll have a look at some of the content on Eternal Expat that can help you better plan your trip.
You can read the latest posts from August below:
If you are interested in keeping up with my current travels and expat adventures in other parts of the world, you can join my monthly newsletter here.
Keep up with what's happening in other parts of Mexico
The traffic light is changing rapidly again and the way in which each state and municipality is interpreting the traffic light system varies enormously. What is now orange in Mexico City looks more like green in Jalisco. Yellow in Puerto Vallarta looks very different from Yellow in Guadalajara, even though they're in the same state.
In addition to the varying ways that the traffic light system is being policed, Mexico has had some pretty severe weather these last few weeks. Hurricanes and tropical storms have hit both coasts and left a whole lot of damage in their wake.
That's why I always recommend trying to find people who are on the ground in the location which you are hoping to visit or move to.
For information about what's going on in and around Puerto Vallarta since the hurricanes have hit, be sure to follow along with the Kinetic Kennons on YouTube.
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 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.
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.
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 locations 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.
Speak soon and safe travels,
Laura
A Mexico City woman with her vaccination certificate. States would like them to be a requirement for inbound travelers.
