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 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. There's just no way that it's not here.
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. 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 smashed together with other bags that came from their houses. So please just stop.
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. 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 really 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”.
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, 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 any one 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 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'm 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 here and the Cozumel government has been doing a good job of putting everything in line and getting ready, so it seems. So, please put your opinions to the side and do the right thing by not traveling to Cozumel right now. Please stay home and let us get ready to weather this upcoming storm. It’s not here yet, but we know it’s on the way. 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 Playa in the morning and two ferries going out in the evening. A similar schedule for WinJet. That's can also change at any time. Who knows? 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!
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