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Source: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/...rders-open-as/
Tourism-dependent Mexico keeps borders open as pandemic worsens
by The Washington Post | Today at 3:55 a.m.
MEXICO CITY -- Things were looking bad for the Holland America cruise liner as it glided up Mexico's Pacific coast just before New Year's Day. Twenty-eight crew members had tested positive for the coronavirus. Two of the country's ports had refused to let the ship dock.
hen it reached the seaside city of Guaymas -- and a warm welcome from the government. Mexico has declared tourists should be allowed to embark from such ships, with quarantine or medical care for those with signs of infection. "Our country maintains its policy of solidarity," the government said in a statement.
As the coronavirus swept the globe, nervous countries imposed bans on flights, cruise ships and border crossings. But from the beginning, Mexico has stayed open. Radically open. New arrivals there, in most states, aren't required to show proof of vaccination or negative coronavirus tests, or to quarantine. When the omicron variant was detected, the United States slapped a temporary ban on visitors from eight African countries. Mexico didn't stop a single flight.
The government estimates that covid-19 has caused more than 450,000 deaths. Yet perhaps no other large country so acutely represents the difficult trade-offs involved in trying to slow the spread of the virus. Mexico has tens of millions of poor citizens, and an economy dependent on trade and tourism. It shares the world's busiest land border.
With omicron taking off, it's one of many nations asking: How much can you seal yourself off?
"You have to make these impossible choices almost -- is it your economy or public health?" said Kelley Lee, a global health scholar at Canada's Simon Fraser University. Countries that imposed strict testing and quarantine requirements have clearly done better at limiting covid-19 outbreaks, she said. "The challenge is most governments aren't willing to go that route. There are costs, real economic costs, political costs, social costs."...
Tourism-dependent Mexico keeps borders open as pandemic worsens
by The Washington Post | Today at 3:55 a.m.
MEXICO CITY -- Things were looking bad for the Holland America cruise liner as it glided up Mexico's Pacific coast just before New Year's Day. Twenty-eight crew members had tested positive for the coronavirus. Two of the country's ports had refused to let the ship dock.
hen it reached the seaside city of Guaymas -- and a warm welcome from the government. Mexico has declared tourists should be allowed to embark from such ships, with quarantine or medical care for those with signs of infection. "Our country maintains its policy of solidarity," the government said in a statement.
As the coronavirus swept the globe, nervous countries imposed bans on flights, cruise ships and border crossings. But from the beginning, Mexico has stayed open. Radically open. New arrivals there, in most states, aren't required to show proof of vaccination or negative coronavirus tests, or to quarantine. When the omicron variant was detected, the United States slapped a temporary ban on visitors from eight African countries. Mexico didn't stop a single flight.
The government estimates that covid-19 has caused more than 450,000 deaths. Yet perhaps no other large country so acutely represents the difficult trade-offs involved in trying to slow the spread of the virus. Mexico has tens of millions of poor citizens, and an economy dependent on trade and tourism. It shares the world's busiest land border.
With omicron taking off, it's one of many nations asking: How much can you seal yourself off?
"You have to make these impossible choices almost -- is it your economy or public health?" said Kelley Lee, a global health scholar at Canada's Simon Fraser University. Countries that imposed strict testing and quarantine requirements have clearly done better at limiting covid-19 outbreaks, she said. "The challenge is most governments aren't willing to go that route. There are costs, real economic costs, political costs, social costs."...