Will COZ close it’s borders?

[JenLoves2Dive]

PS Dandy Don mentioned about donating to Carita's which is our local food bank here. We know this charity very well and I can vouch for Rhonda Penzell. I've known her for several years now and she is such a wonderful person. Am so happy to see her helping them. They are right now feeding about 800 families and that number is going up. If you are interested in helping and unsure how to go about it, you are more than welcome to message me. There are several groups that need help right now.
Caritas, which is the food bank, the old folks home which is Amigos de Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II, and there are two animal rescue groups here, Cozumel Humane Society and Adopciones de Mascotas en Cozumel. I can vouch for all these groups!
If you have any questions, I will be happy to be the messenger and help out by putting you in touch with the right people. I'm closed for business right now, so it would be my pleasure.

 

[MMM]

Thanks Jen. As I said on another local discussion board, I have a permanent resident visa for Mexico and am entitled to its health care. But nonetheless, I made the decision to return to Canada, knowing full well that the airline travel probably put me at greater risk than if I just stayed put. Part of my decision to return is that I read somewhere that there are about 11 working ventilators on the island. So here I sit in Canada, snow on the ground still, in my 14 day mandatory quarantine.

Hi guys. Interesting to read all the comments here. I must admit that it's hard to read some of them and to see this sense of entitlement with some folks who are rationalizing traveling here, to this little island during a worldwide pandemic knowing full well that practically everything is closed down. WHAT? And this, from fellow divers and supporters of Cozumel. I don't get it and it's upsetting to see people give others advice, advising them to still come here right now. As we are sitting here getting ready to prepare. It's really disappointing. I know that some of you have businesses and families here and you may not have had a choice. But you should realize that you are still putting others at risk by traveling through airports to get here.

We've got quite a few ScubaBoard members that have homes here and are an active part of our Cozumel community. The ones that I know (from the U.S. and Canada) already headed back. Most really wanted to stay, but they took everything into consideration. Most were already here when this all started. Many realized that things here could get delicate quickly and knew that if any of them were to get sick, they could be taking critical resources away from a citizen that might direly need it. And I thank you for making the right decision under hard circumstances. Actually, I applaud you.

Please let me give you my perspective and I hope you will hear me out. I apologize for a very long winded post. (Those of you that know me would expect nothing less.) I have been a full-time resident here in Cozumel for almost 8 years (in May). I can't believe it! I thought I would just stay a year or so. But here I am. I am very active in the community. Most of you guys have known me for a long time, even before Scuba Board when we had the Diver-to-Diver (D2D) group on Scuba Diving Magazine’s web site. My first dive was in Cozumel 25 years ago. So, I have made many lifelong friends here. They are my family! I know several families with three generations of Cozumeleños. New babies being born and I've watched my friends' kids grow up and have babies too. This is an island that just thrives on family. Just for fun, I went to my Facebook page and clicked on my “friends where you live”. 306 friends in Cozumel. And I don’t friend people that I don't personally know. I've had the opportunity to spend some time volunteering at the chamber at International hospital. I’m an acupuncturist here and have a ton of friends that are physicians, nurses, EMTs, pharmacists and technicians. They work at CostaMed, San Miguel Médica, International Hospital, Amerimed and the Hospital Seguro Social.

What's my point?
I get tears in my eyes just trying to write this. Because I simply can't imagine losing a single one of them! Or possibly 30, 40, or more? This possibility is very real and the thought of losing any one of them is incomprehensible to me.

The island is approximately 27 miles long and 10 miles wide. We live in a very tight circumference. During high season we've been averaging 25-30 cruise ships a week, how many flights coming in every day, and travelers coming in from Cancun? So, the odds are it's probably here. I don't see how it can't be. DO THE MATH. But as we all know, this thing snowballs and when it does it goes fast. And whoever it was that said it appears we are not going to get hit, that there are no cases on the island, and blah blah blah is clearly not thinking this out. In one week, the absolute minimum would be about 75,000 visitors from all over the world with the majority from the U.S. coming here and mostly in a less than 10 mile radius. We have a little over 100,000 residents.

So, here we are just now entering into Phase 2. No more large groups of people, no socializing, most bars and restaurants except for a small few are closed. Mexico is a still 3 if not 4 weeks behind what is happening in the U.S. I see many comments from people who want to come down here. People that feel entitled to come. Did I miss something or do most of you not have to travel by plane to get here?? So, it doesn’t matter if you self isolate for two weeks or 3 months, because the moment you decide to travel, is the moment you put ALL of us at risk by bringing it here with you to Cozumel. That means cars, taxis, airports where thousands of people have been and possibly going through more than one airport. You tell yourself, “I'll be careful. I'll wash my hands. I'll wear a mask”. Well there is absolutely no way that you can avoid touching something that didn't come into contact with other people at the airport, you can’t hold your breath, and people are handling your bags which are smushed together with other bags that came from their houses. So please just stop. I’ve heard enough.

So, I feel a bit resentful, I’ve closed up my business, I have been self isolating and I have to gp to the grocery store and run into a group of people just arriving for their ”vacation” who are shopping in the grocery store. I am trying to be extra careful because I’m 62 and I have an auto-immune disease so that means a compromised immune system. I work extra hard at staying healthy. I’d like to keep it that way.

Please, don’t take this personally and please don’t try to educate me on statistics and comparisons on coronavirus because I actually worked for a research company and your “research” is not finding the first thing on google that resonates with your opinion on how contagious the virus is or how it’s “just like the flu”. I’m not going to waste time with that.

The problem here is Cozumel cannot take on any more. We do not know what size storm might be headed our way and whether or not it’s a CAT 2 or CAT 3 and we certainly don’t need you to turn the fan on and turn it into a CAT 5. The REAL danger of this virus is the fact that it’s extremely contagious. It replicates fast and attacks fairly rapidly. Many will, if they haven’t already, get the virus and have a few symptoms, some others will have none, and you will go on with life as normal. So no big deal, right? But all of you could in theory be a carrier. That means that all of you have the ability to infect at least 2.5 other people with it. So if this progresses, we don’t need to see our hospitals and clinics get overwhelmed and also put our all our medical people at risk! We’re too small and too populated. We’ve seen it already in many cities all over the world. I hope I’m wrong. If I am, I will be elated.

Yes, we need help. We need tourism, we need your support and we need to work. I’m not a retiree. I have to work, too. I ripped up to see my friends that are all out of work with families to feed. So, I understand. Please give Cozumel the chance to be strong and rally and come away from this healthy. Nobody is panicking her and the Cozumel government has been doing a good job of putting everything in line and getting ready. So, please put your opinions to the side and do the right thing by not traveling to Cozumel right now. Please stay home. Please let us get ready to weather this upcoming storm. It’s not here yet, but we know it’s on the way. Again, we are most likely 3 weeks behind the states. (That’s a personal guess.) But, the healthier we are, the sooner we can get back to work. We are going to need you to help us rally! Thanks so much for letting me have my say. #CozumelStrong!


PS We have started Phase 2 now and curfews will start at 11pm on Saturday. There are only 2 ferries on Ultarmar going to Paya in the morning and two ferries going out in the evening. A similar schedule for WinJet. That's can also change at any time. By the way, I don't know who said the port closed because that's not true. I have a view of the water and watched some small fast boats going back and forth today. Thanks!

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

Thanks Jen. As I said on another local discussion board, I have a permanent resident visa for Mexico and am entitled to its health care. But nonetheless, I made the decision to return to Canada, knowing full well that the airline travel probably put me at greater risk than if I just stayed put. Part of my decision to return is that I read somewhere that there are about 11 working ventilators on the island. So here I sit in Canada, snow on the ground still, in my 14 day mandatory quarantine.

Actually, you were one of those people that I was thinking about when I was writing this. I know you would much rather be here! We'd rather you be here too. I hope it's soon.
PS What's snow? Sounds vaguely familiar.

 

[DandyDon]

Thanks Jen. Rhonda's FB page says that they are trying to keep 8,000 fed, which is mind-boggling.

Anyway, if anyone wants to message me here for how to send money to her, I can share that in private message. There are others you can donate to instead if you'd like.

 

[WetInPortland]

Hi guys. Interesting to read all the comments here. I must admit that it's hard to read some of them and to see this sense of entitlement with some folks who are rationalizing traveling here, to this little island during a worldwide pandemic knowing full well that practically everything is closed down. WHAT? And this, from fellow divers and supporters of Cozumel. I don't get it and it's upsetting to see people give others advice, advising them to still come here right now, as we are sitting here getting ready to prepare. It's really disappointing. I know that some of you have businesses and families here and you may not have had a choice. But you should realize that you are still putting others at risk by traveling through airports to get here. (Original post continues)

Jen,

Your post was thoughtful and interesting. One facet you didn’t touch on was immigration status. You must be either a permanent resident or citizen at this point, but from your comments I take it that you’re not a natural-born Mexican citizen. Unless you’ve renounced the citizenship of your home country, you should have the option to return there, and since you’ve closed your business, one could make an argument for that as a viable option. I point that out not to be critical, but as a point of reference.

We’ve "only" been here for 1-1/2 years and are temporary residents. We've spent the majority of the past year here, and we have a long-term lease (which we consider to be better value than buying a home, which we considered).

I had to return to the US in late February for some minor medical and other issues; my wife stayed behind here. My trip was scheduled long ago and to last for three weeks, and I returned last Saturday (Southwest suspended flights to Cozumel two days later). I’m aware that I could have brought the virus back with me, which is why we are doing our best to self-quarantine for two weeks (probably 2-1/2 with the Fase Dos directive). If I need to go out to buy a garafon of water, I wear a mask to protect others from anything I might be carrying. I will do the same if I need to go to the grocery, but we’re going to hold out as long as we can on that.

Not only do we consider Cozumel our home, but as luck would have it, we need to renew our visas on 1-April. Had the Cozumel INM office granted us a three-year renewal last year, as most other offices do, that would have removed that issue, but I don’t know that it would have changed our decision. Loosing two years credit towards our permanent residency and citizenship would be a blow, however.

You and @MMM mentioned the availability of medical care and equipment if/when COVID-19 starts spreading on the island. There may be far more ventilators in the US or Canada, but that’s not terribly useful if none are available where and when you need one. We could calculate the number of ventilators per capita for various locations; some will be better and some will be worse. But again, if one isn’t available when you need it, it really doesn’t matter. (There’s also the issue of available respiratory therapists.) On the other hand, if there’s one last ventilator available for me, then the second person in line is out of luck, regardless if that person is Cozumeleño, Floridian, or Canadian. IMNSHO, there has been an abject lack of leadership by the governor of Florida (which would be our US location option) with respect to COVID-19; beyond considering Cozumel home and wanting to be with my wife, I’m not certain we would be better off in Florida than here.

My point is that these are tough decisions for everyone. I would agree that the tourists should be staying away, but there are COVID-19 deniers, just as there are climate-change deniers, and people of various political stripes who may argue and act to the contrary. But beyond the tourists, each of us, regardless of where we live, is going to have to weigh our options carefully. Different people will likely reach different decisions when presented with similar circumstances. No one should be overly critical of those decisions - not yours, not mine, not Marg's, not anyone's. Again, I found your post thoughtful and interesting, but someone might take it as critical. I hope that wasn't your intent.

I will close with a comment that someone offered me in another thread discussing COVID-19 impacts: Decisions based on love are almost always better than those based on fear.

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

One facet you didn’t touch on was immigration status. You must be either a permanent resident or citizen at this point, but from your comments I take it that you’re not a natural-born Mexican citizen.

Yes, I am a permanent resident. Not sure why I would even consider going back to the United States and put myself at risk traveling. Especially since I have a weakened immune condition. So for me, that would be taking huge risks for me, and I'm really healthy right now. And to go where? I have a few cousins in the states but I can't fly back and possibly expose them too, if somehow I was already a carrier. The message has been very clear. Do not travel. Stay home. The US is now in a level 4 travel warning. My permanent home is in Cozumel for many years now. So, that pretty much means staying put here with my dog! I've promoted her to personal support animal. ;-)

I also said: " I know that some of you have businesses and families here and you may not have had a choice. But you should realize that you are still putting others at risk by traveling through airports to get here." -
Believe me, no judgment here. Everyone has extenuating circumstances and they need to weigh the risks and figure this out and make the best decision they can. If there is a way to do that and not put anyone at risk, then that's the route to take.

My point of reference for my post was the fact that there are people that are still trying to justify coming here for social / vacation purposes.
My friends have a son in college in Mexico City and he has diabetes. They have three kids at home. But they HAD to make the decision to bring him back home even with the kids there because it would have been dangerous for him to stay in Mexico city alone.

Not only do we consider Cozumel our home, but as luck would have it, we need to renew our visas on 1-April. Had the Cozumel INM office granted us a three-year renewal last year, as most other offices do, that would have removed that issue, but I don’t know that it would have changed our decision. Loosing two years credit towards our permanent residency and citizenship would be a blow

Immigration is still open have you checked? Once it expires- then you can't get it back. I've had that happen to me twice. Once because I screwed up the dates and thought my card expired on April 3 when it was actually March 3. (Dates here are dd/mm/yy) Second-time was due to an error by Immigration lawyer. I lost all my years. For some reason, the Cozumel office will not allow 3-year renewals. The Immigration offices will close very soon as we will shift to phase 3. Go there and explain - they may have a form you can fill out. It doesn't matter, as long as you have an application in process. Then nothing will be expired. You can have your application in process for 30 days as far as I know. But go check tomorrow if you can!

Again, I found your post thoughtful and interesting, but someone might take it as critical. I hope that wasn't your intent.

Well, yes and no. It would be wrong of me to criticize anyone that needs to make serious decisions based on the health and wellness of their loved ones. But, I am sure many do try to rationalize their personal needs and quite possibly not look at the bigger picture and that's not listening to critical warnings about travel.

I write very matter of factly, and I have been told often, that I come across critical when I write, versus the sweet kind demeanor, I have in person. I need to work on that! But honestly, I am a very empathetic person, and the only point I am trying to make through all this is to ask people to stay home and stop all this rationalization about why they should come to the island right now if they truly don't need to.

I would love to catch up with you guys after this is over! If I can be of any help and if you need any contact phone numbers I would be happy to share them with you. Send me a pm and I will give you guys my contact phone numbers. Thanks for your message!

 

[RayfromTX]

Hi Jen
When we spoke on 3-16 it was still during the early transition when even the doctors were still hugging and I was frustrated in trying to get people I know on the island to recognize the danger of the pandemic. There was a cruise ship there that day and the day after. After they were gone it seemed to get the attention of the people on the island and as they saw everyone leave, they realized it was for real. It may be that the sunshine helped protect the island from some of the visitors that were there renting jeeps and drinking beers on the patios but I'm still surprised that we haven't yet heard of cases there. Still praying but I'll feel so much better after two or three weeks has passed and there are still no cases there. I look at the pictures we took at the memorial and we were standing side by side, not exactly hand in hand but still far from socially distant. The next four days showed a very big change in the perceptions and behaviors of those on the island. I hope it was soon enough.

 

[horn34]

Hi Jen
When we spoke on 3-16 it was still during the early transition when even the doctors were still hugging and I was frustrated in trying to get people I know on the island to recognize the danger of the pandemic. There was a cruise ship there that day and the day after. After they were gone it seemed to get the attention of the people on the island and as they saw everyone leave, they realized it was for real. It may be that the sunshine helped protect the island from some of the visitors that were there renting jeeps and drinking beers on the patios but I'm still surprised that we haven't yet heard of cases there. Still praying but I'll feel so much better after two or three weeks has passed and there are still no cases there.

We aren't seeing cases because Mexico is doing very little testing. I agree with Jen that there are most likely a large number of unreported/uncomfirmed cases in Cozumel. I would equate this situation to a diver making one dive at Palancar, not seeing any lion fish and then declaring the park lion fish free.

Mexico could become the new Italy of coronavirus — or worse

That’s not happening this time. The country has barely tested people, likely accounting for the low official number of 475 cases as of March 26. That comes as millions continued to move freely outside, including tens of thousands who attended a large outdoor festival in Mexico City last week.

 

[ggunn]

So, I feel a little bit resentful, I’ve closed up my business, I have been self-isolating and I have to go to the grocery store and run into a group of people just arriving for their ”vacation” who are shopping in the grocery store.

Seriously? You've seen that? Apart from the risk factors to themselves and others, why would anyone want to go to Cozumel right now? You can't stay in a hotel, you can't go out to eat, you can't go diving or fishing, etc. I mean, it's a beautiful place and all that, but right now what's the attraction?

 

[scubaNYC16]

We aren't seeing cases because Mexico is doing very little testing. I agree with Jen that there are most likely a large number of unreported/uncomfirmed case in Cozumel. I would equate this situation to a diver making one dive at Palancar, not seeing any lion fish and then declaring the park lion fish free.

Mexico could become the new Italy of coronavirus — or worse

It’s definitely on the mainland and it’s going to get really bad unfortunately. Let’s hope it doesn’t get too bad in Coz. A friend who lives in Mexico City and works for a multinational company is already working from home and sheltering in place for over a week. She said that’s what all the multinational companies are doing with their employees because they know what’s coming.