New U.S. travel restrictions on the coronavirus are likely to have an extraordinary impact on Mexico, which is also struggling with an uncontrolled outbreak of the virus and record numbers of deaths.
Under Joe Biden’s wave of executive orders Thursday was a new set of rules requiring all travelers by sea, air or land to enter the U.S. to provide evidence of a recent negative coronavirus test and self-quarantine or self-isolation upon entry. The executive action also instructs federal officials to work with the governments of Mexico and Canada to draw up a coordinated plan for border crossings.
Until now, Mexico has also been a global outlier by refusing to impose restrictions on international air passengers, as President Andrés Manuel López Obrador places a mild response to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, hospitals have been overwhelmed by rising case numbers, and Mexico set two daily coronavirus death records this week.
But even as the death toll skyrocketed, the country focused on the market to offer international tourists restriction-free travel. During the winter holidays, foreign and domestic tourists flocked to beach resorts and other important destinations.
The new U.S. rules – and similar measures introduced by Canada this month – could eventually prompt Mexican policymakers to adopt science – or face a loss of tourism and international mobility.
But it can be difficult to develop a coordinated approach with Mexico: López Obrador has consistently underestimated the severity of the pandemic, and after building an unexpectedly positive relationship with Donald Trump, he was reluctant with the incoming U.S. government.
Mexican health officials have refused to introduce a number of evidence-based pandemic response measures, such as mass tests. (Despite the severity of the outbreak, Mexico has one of the lowest test scores in the world.)
Dr. Laurie Ann Ximénez-Fyvie, director of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory at the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM), believes the country’s failure to establish an adequate testing network will make complying with new U.S. travel requirements a challenge.
“Simply meeting the demand of passengers traveling abroad would be a terrible problem if the capacity test is not at the required level,” Ximénez-Fyvie said. “The numbers just don’t count because the testing ability in Mexico is way too low.”
Together, the US and Canada make up the bulk of Mexico’s economically important international tourism sector. Mexico is also home to the largest population of U.S. citizens living abroad.
Travelers to Mexico must complete a health questionnaire, but there are no admission requirements or quarantine rules upon arrival. Without a government lead, private enterprises scramble to meet demand.
Federal data shows the state of Quintana Roo – home of Cancún – usually reports only hundreds of test results per day.
Adolfo Castro, CEO of Aeropuertos del Sureste (Asur), which manages the busy international airport of the tourist center, noted that the new rule would increase demand significantly and quickly. ‘If you add 15,000 to the normal situation [air passengers] a day, then you have to do something and you have to respond. ”
The Quintana Roo state government recently opened temporary test sites in the resort towns of Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum. Castro’s company is in talks with local hotels to help passengers get tested in the 72-hour window before their departure flights. He is also looking for an accredited lab to do antigen tests at the airport.
The new test requirements also sparked speculation that non-accredited laboratories or doctors who meet tourists’ prescription requirements could create a new black market in falsified test results or medical documentation.
Dr Ximénez-Fyvie said Mexico’s extensive network of public and private laboratories could easily cover the demand for uprisings, but that did not provide the materials for processing the tests and political will to coordinate the effort.
“It’s not that we do not have the resources or the capabilities or the infrastructure,” Ximénez-Fyvie said. “The problem here was the lack of willingness to see it done.”