Current COVID/masking in Cozumel

[cvchief]

Yes. Had an extensive conversation with a local last week, (a civil engineer), whose sister contracted coved. They're certain that she got it at a "super spreader" event; She'd volunteered to help out with the elections. Guess there was a huge spike xx days afterward.

Yes, the whole thing with 'no the island is actually yellow, ignore the state orange level' thing for the elections. They brought in Calderon, which was probably a bad idea and gave him COVID on the island.

 

[ChuckP]

Of course they really don't give city by city detail anymore but in six days, the state of Q Roo went from 4100 active cases to 5300 - back in February it was in the 1000 range

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

I am looking at going in the next week with my wife and two kids. How bad is it right now as far as Covid. Looking to get some diving in and hang out around the resort.

I’ve read through most of the thread and it quickly derailed. Thanks.

Haha No kidding! I did not have time to read through all 14 pages of theories. But I will answer as best I know. I am a full time resident in Cozumel (year round) for almost 10 years now. Here are my thoughts and experiences in no particular order.

YES, the covid situation in Cozumel has been getting worse. Yes, they are coming along on the vaccinations but it has been taking a long time and unless you are a legal resident (through Immigration with a CURP # - (unique Mexican ID similar to SS#), you can not get a vaccine. So that leaves a LOT of people here that are visiting and/or overstaying their FMM visitor’s card without being vaccinated. I have heard that they may be changing that requirement on a case by case basis, but so far that is the deal.

I do know that the Delta variant is here. One of my good friends is a physician in Playa del Carmen (and was my GP for 3.5 years here before moving) and his cousin is a physician here. He said he is seeing a lot of younger (unvaccinated) kids teens -30s, getting sick, as well as entire households. They just started vaccinating the 30 and under groups this week. So that is good news!

I also ran into a very well known and loved doctor on the island yesterday and he is extremely frustrated with the situation here. His wife currently has covid they are the most careful people I know. Thankfully, he is negative and she is doing well at home so far. They work full time in one of the hospitals (Respecting their privacy, I am not at liberty to mention his name, sorry). They both are vaccinated.

I personally know more people in the last 3 months that have gotten covid here then the total amount of people I know that have gotten it from March 2020-April 2021.

You can still be vaccinated and yet contagious with covid and still travel here and spread it. Being vaccinated does not prevent you from contracting the virus, it just makes your symptoms less serious, hopefully. If you have comorbidity factors, you may want to seriously reconsider traveling right now. I have a friend that just left CMC (CostaMed hospital) after a 14 day stay. She was vaccinated in the U.S. and yes she had some comorbidity factors. No question she would have been dead without the vaccine and this was said by her physician.

They are not doing any real contact tracing here. Also, no place to isolate covid positive patients from their families, etc. The doctor here in Cozumel, told me that one of his patients that was positive, had very mild symptoms and simply went back to work. He threatened to turn her in and she went back home to finish her isolation time, but trust me, not many are isolating who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic. This happens a lot because people desperately need to work. That is the way it is. He said he is seeing approximately 7-10 new covid patients per day. He works at a private hospital.

Even through the loud protests of physicians, nurses and others in the medical field, they are still not doing any mandatory testing of people arriving to the island. So we have people traveling on vacation from all over Mexico, many from Mexico City (where it is still a disaster), and many from all over the world. There are many unvaccinated people traveling from the U.S., as well.

So, many visitors are simply refusing to comply with the mask law. With the delta variant here, I would reconsider sitting in a closed-in restaurant. Look for more open air settings and places that have outdoor tables set up (Most do). But that’s me, I work in the health field and I am fully vaccinated (I received Pfizer here in Cozumel). If you have to take the ferry over and sit inside, then bring along a N95 mask. Gators and thin fabric masks are not protective enough inside and close spaces. If you are going to be on a dive boat, then ask any crew to please wear their masks and respect your space. If you go on an excursion, please resist sharing food with others. I was just on a boat trip to El Cielo with friends and there were locals and tourists mixed. They had a table with a lot of food spread out and bags of chips. I cringed as I watched people picking up finger food with their hands and passing around the chips, reaching in with their hands. wtf. If you are laughing and drinking next to others not in your bubble then create a little space. Please use your common sense.

With the arrival of more cruise ships now, I fully expect to see our numbers go up even more. Wednesday a week ago, there were 6 tourists who tested positive for covid and they came ashore in Cozumel on a Royal Caribbean ship.

IMHO, Cozumel has the best case scenario for controlling the virus. They could be demanding a negative covid test 72 hours before arriving like they do for the US. People lost their **** when it was first mentioned or considered. Yet here they are, coming on vacation and having no problem getting tested before they return to the U.S. That’s incredibly sad to me. Especially when I hear it from people that profess to love this island and its people so much. Sorry for the long winded post. I don’t talk about covid anymore on public forums. I am exhausted and I get lambasted for telling the truth. YES we all need to work. God knows I do and my business has collapsed because of this, but I will not compromise acting responsibly and my safety protocols. But even as a tourist, a repeat visitor, or a homeowner here, you should take on some responsibility to keep yourself, your family and especially people that cannot afford even basic healthcare safe, when you come to visit Cozumel. PLEASE do the right thing and get tested BEFORE you come to Cozumel.

I really hope I did not offend anyone. But I feel it important to give my perspective and my personal experience at this time. Mileage may vary.

FWIW, I have had several groups of diver friends, all vaccinated come to the island for their dive trips in the last two months and they did great. They also observed the mask and safety restrictions while here. Thanks and stay safe and happy diving.

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

It can be done relatively safely depending upon the layout of the resort and how you choose to spend your vacation. Your closest contact with locals will probably be on van ride to/from the airport if you aren’t renting a car. I would think about a private shutttle and leaving the windows partly down if you don’t want to fool with a rental. Obviously if you like getting massages at the resort that is pretty high risk also (one hour of close contact pretty well means if your therapist has it you will get it )

You can manage your risk with the tourists at resort like you do in the states. If you spend a bunch of time in close contact with others at pool bar, dining indoors, send kids to hotel camp, etc there is plenty of risk to be found from the other tourists. If you are mostly on the beach keeping to yourselves risk is pretty low. Dive boats (especially small boats with no cabin ) are super high air flow—not zero risk but fairly low.

No clear answer , but those are my thoughts

Great post! Whether it is a hotel or an Air BnB, you just have to stay in your zone and use common sense on how you are going to manage your vacation and your safety zones. Totally agree!

 

[DandyDon]

I'm coming on the 21st, if I pass my Covid test of the 18th. There is no requirement for that, but I think it's only responsible of me.

So many anti-vaxxers claim that they don't need the jab since they've survived Covid already. Try this...

Vaccine shots give COVID-19 survivors big immune boost, studies show

And this...

Odds of COVID-19 re-infection twice as likely if unvaccinated - study

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

Sure, but no matter how the expats yell, I think Cozumel's problem is local community spread. Its not coming out of the foreign tourist group that has a relatively high vax rate. Not to say that a negative test might not prevent a case or two, but its like putting up a no smoking sign on your restaurant to prevent fire while the kitchen is going up in flames.

It's super easy for people to sit in their chairs and speculate or claim that expats are blaming tourists but that's not true. Trying not to get pissed off here, and this is exactly why I don't get on public forums much anymore to discuss. Because someone is going to make some old, tired argument that somehow living here in Cozumel, we don't have a right to point out the obvious and share what is going on or what we are seeing because we are expats.
Yet I hear the same all the time from my Mexican friends that are just as frustrated about the lack of compliance from tourists or from visitors staying for months at a time.

I obviously know you own a condo here and you come very often. I think you have a good feel for what goes on here, but you are not walking out your front door every single day, several times a day and running smack into groups of tourists walking into town from the hotels or watching every day for months and months what's going on here in the restaurants and stores when people are having their meltdowns because they have to wear masks or use hand gel or get their temperature taken! I run into them every single day. You are not walking downtown or along the waterfront every day like I do. I do believe that a lot of the spread is from locals, but I also believe that it's about 70%. Because a large majority of locals here have been complying with the safety protocols put into place. Not so with many of the tourists, but there is also a problem with a lot of people staying here for 6 months as visitors and not complying. Do you know how many times people told me they came here to stay for six months because it was less restrictive than in the U.S., or things were too restrictive from their home country or city? And of course, there are many covid deniers and antivaxxers still coming, and many are traveling a lot. I know what I have been seeing and experiencing for the last 16+ months. And there's literally NO testing for anyone coming here on vacation? Give me a break. The only solution is covid testing before you come. It's so simple. Be tested before you come or have proof of vaccination. You will still need to comply with the safety protocols but it is barely going to effect your vacation.

PS Please understand when I use the word tourists it is not all directed toward travelers from the U.S. I've said my two cents worth. lol I'm out.

 

[JenLoves2Dive]

I'm coming on the 21st, if I pass my Covid test of the 18th. There is no requirement for that, but I think it's only responsible of me.

Thank you, my friend!

 

[cvchief]

It's super easy for people to sit in their chairs and speculate or claim that expats are blaming tourists but that's not true. Trying not to get pissed off here, and this is exactly why I don't get on public forums much anymore to discuss. Because someone is going to make some old, tired argument that somehow living here in Cozumel, we don't have a right to point out the obvious and share what is going on or what we are seeing because we are expats.
Yet I hear the same all the time from my Mexican friends that are just as frustrated about the lack of compliance from tourists or from visitors staying for months at a time.

I obviously know you own a condo here and you come very often. I think you have a good feel for what goes on here, but you are not walking out your front door every single day, several times a day and running smack into groups of tourists walking into town from the hotels or watching every day for months and months what's going on here in the restaurants and stores when people are having their meltdowns because they have to wear masks or use hand gel or get their temperature taken! I run into them every single day. You are not walking downtown or along the waterfront every day like I do. I do believe that a lot of the spread is from locals, but I also believe that it's about 70%. Because a large majority of locals here have been complying with the safety protocols put into place. Not so with many of the tourists, but there is also a problem with a lot of people staying here for 6 months as visitors and not complying. Do you know how many times people told me they came here to stay for six months because it was less restrictive than in the U.S., or things were too restrictive from their home country or city? And of course, there are many covid deniers and antivaxxers still coming, and many are traveling a lot. I know what I have been seeing and experiencing for the last 16+ months. And there's literally NO testing for anyone coming here on vacation? Give me a break. The only solution is covid testing before you come. It's so simple. Be tested before you come or have proof of vaccination. You will still need to comply with the safety protocols but it is barely going to effect your vacation.

PS Please understand when I use the word tourists it is not all directed toward travelers from the U.S. I've said my two cents worth. lol I'm out.

Oh, you totally mistaken what I have said, clearly. Sure, tourists are not following all the rules. And no one said you don't have the right to point out anything. And sure lots of tourists are coming from a strong sense of denial and actively fight the regulation.

That being said, I have not seen statistic on the number of tourists failing COVID tests on their vacations. Surely if the massive amount of spread in QRoo was from tourists we would hear about them being confined, denied travel or hospitalized. Statistic tell us its a lot of young locals.

When you talk about locals and the levels of protection they are engaging in, I think it is not the perfect adherence you mentioned. Surely you have seen popular local restaurants that fail to follow the Governor's order for Orange and reduce to 50%. I know a number of them I was in could NOT double the people there. Because they still haven't halved it. Heck I barely got in one without a reservation!!

Walk around Fonatur and tell me locals are masking up. No they aren't. Oh sure some do. Being generous maybe 35-40%. And do you know what happens when expats are walking around Fonatur with non-mask wearing locals? They don't wear theirs either.

And I more than own a condo, I serve as Chairman of the HOA, so I hear the opinions of residents. As you know we have a fair number of Mexican nationals as well as expats living at our place. We pride ourselves in not being all expats. We instituted special COVID rules and have had to deal with people chaffing at the rules and wanting to violate them. And believe me that is very far from being an expat issue.

If someone wanted to insist on pre-travel testing, I have no issue with that. If they wanted to give out vaccine passports (yes, I said passports...) I would get one in a heartbeat. I am listed in plenty of databases. I would love to tie my US vax to my CURP so I could get one of the cool MX vax QR code sheets.

If the mask police, wants to harass tourists more about the masks and not just nationals, I am good with that too.

All that being said, the national population in Cozumel, I think, isn't that different from a lot of places. They are tired of it and looking to drop or slide by any restriction they can, especially the young people. That's not good, that's not right, but that just is. So hectoring tourists is truly missing the core reason its lighting off.

It has a lot to do with younger people, just like the US. Party time garth:

Sin medidas sanitarias y a reventar, así luce la Zona de Antros de Cancún: VIDEO

Even the Brits are like, hey Mexico, you got a boat load of COVID running around down there:

Nuevas restricciones de Reino Unido por COVID-19 afectan gastos de turistas en Cancún

Its not tourists causing the fiasco at the ferry pier, where many nationals are crowded together without social distancing. And tourists don't own the ferries:

Ultramar y Winjet se niegan a trabajar juntas en Cozumel sin orden federal

And while some tourist may attend, they don't organize these:

Cofepris clausura 60 fiestas clandestinas en destinos turísticos de Quintana Roo

Organizan fiesta clandestina en Tulum que se llevó a cabo en Yucatán; la clausuran

So pointing fingers at tourists, is ignoring the root of the problem. Its like worrying about a fire and yelling at your visitor smoking a cig in the living room, while your roomates are practicing their fire dancing in the bedrooms.

Don't get caught up in the politics and the hype, look at the problem. Just because you SEE tourists on the malecon without masks, doesn't mean they are the root of the problem. They are just what you see that irritates you. Maybe if you went out partying at 3 am in local places, you would see the younger people that make up a lot of the cases and then be mad at them?

 

[DeltaWardog]

The real problem is that cvchief and JenLoves2Dive are both right and both make good points. There's bad behavior everywhere. It's why we're suffering yet another wave. And probably more waves after that when the next variant pops up and gains a foothold. I'm a little disappointed to hear the locals aren't masking up as much as they should, but people will be people, and one thing we've all seen throughout this pandemic is that a lot of people are just dumb.

All a sane, rational person can do is not contribute to the problem by masking up and being responsible. I'll have my mask with me when I show up, and I'll have it on when I'm not alone, eating a meal, or underwater. If enough people were doing that, this thing would have been over months ago.

 

[cvchief]

The real problem is that cvchief and JenLoves2Dive are both right and both make good points. There's bad behavior everywhere. It's why we're suffering yet another wave. And probably more waves after that when the next variant pops up and gains a foothold. I'm a little disappointed to hear the locals aren't masking up as much as they should, but people will be people, and one thing we've all seen throughout this pandemic is that a lot of people are just dumb.

All a sane, rational person can do is not contribute to the problem by masking up and being responsible. I'll have my mask with me when I show up, and I'll have it on when I'm not alone, eating a meal, or underwater. If enough people were doing that, this thing would have been over months ago.

I don't know that masking would have ended it, but it sure probably would have slowed it down....

On the bright side, it seems vaccine acceptance everywhere is getting a little better. I think the US rate is improving. I read there was a big rowdydow when all the mainland peeps showed up to get Pfizer on the island instead of AZ on the mainland. (I get that! mRNA for the win!!)

Its hard though. I have a few people I care about that I work on, but there is so much "You're an idiot for not getting your vax" going around so that people really dig their heels in. I think people that are harsh about it, don't help the effort. (I am talking to you @DandyDon !) Of course I don't need to convince the nephew any more. He went ahead and got covid instead....