Scenes of U.S. tourists violating Covid-19 measures and mandates while visiting Puerto Rico have upset residents with outrage as they fear their efforts to control the pandemic could be damaged as more visitors arrive on spring break trips .
Israel Meléndez Ayala (34), a longtime resident of Old San Juan, saw many tourists without masks when he and his partner went for a walk with their dog this week.
“They behaved as if no one else existed in old San Juan,” Meléndez Ayala told NBC News. ‘I do not have a problem with people who want to have a good time, but they have to be respectful – we are still living in the midst of a pandemic, and people can not come here and act as if the virus does not exist. .. They have a sense of justice and apathy that I do not understand. ‘
Puerto Ricans in the U.S. have so far avoided overwhelming their already fragile health care system during the pandemic, largely because of extraordinary measures taken by the local government early on – and the willingness of people to comply. Puerto Rico was one of the first U.S. jurisdictions to issue a mask mandate and currently has the longest pandemic-related evening clock compared to any state.
A series of viral videos have shown tourists violating the midnight curfew, mask mandate and physical distance guidelines on the island, among other restrictions. Other videos show disorderly tourists getting into a fight, dancing on top of moving vehicles and destroying private property around the metropolitan area of Puerto Rico, including well-known tourist spots. One of the most viral videos shows a tourist riding a scooter in the middle of a busy highway in San Juan, the capital.
“We’re seeing a chaotic situation, something we’ve not seen before,” Oscar Medina, a San Juan resident, told WKAQ, the local TV news station of NBC’s sister network Telemundo in Puerto Rico. “Most tourists in Old San Juan and Condado act aggressively at night, do not wear their masks and leave their trash behind,” he said.
Another resident living in an Airbnb apartment in Old San Juan, Evelyn López, said tourists who stay there often have ‘loud music, talk loudly and have quarrels. ‘
“A night here, it’s almost like we had no evening clock,” López told WKAQ. “People go on to 1, 2, even 3 hours, especially on weekends.” The island currently has a midnight curfew.
With much of the world’s travel limited, Puerto Rico is becoming a popular destination for Americans on the continent.
“Because of the cheap flights, we receive tourists we are not used to,” said Dr. Victor Ramos, president of the Puerto Rican Medical Association, said he was part of a group of science experts advising government Pedro Pierluisi.
Earlier in the pandemic, most cases of community spread on the island could be linked to the main airport of Puerto Rico, mainly of Puerto Ricans traveling to the island, Ramos said. However, Puerto Rico has not seen a rise in cases since December and reported its lowest positivity rate in February (5.2 percent) since the deaths in Covid-19 around Thanksgiving rose.
As Puerto Rico continues to reopen tourists and welcome more tourists, experts and residents are concerned that travelers’ unwillingness to follow Covid-19 protocols could reverse the progress they have made so far.
A call to action
Nearly 130 residents in Old San Juan met Thursday and urged officials to take action to control the behavior of tourists and visitors who do not comply with the Covid-19 protocols. At the meeting, residents said they were witnesses of cases in which the police ‘said nothing’ to misbehave tourists, or saw tourists still ignoring Covid protocols after the police confronted them.
“It seems that we are not responding to the incidents, but we are,” said Antonio López Figueroa, police commissioner, days before about the situation. He urged residents to record the incidents to contact police immediately to ensure officers can respond to the scene.
Just last weekend, police issued more than 500 fines, including 110 for not wearing a mask, López Figueroa said. Puerto Rican police have promised to increase their presence in tourist areas such as Condado, Old San Juan, Santurce and Isla Verde to ensure tourists follow the curfew.
Since the onset of the pandemic, at least 1,079 people have been arrested for violating Covid-19 restrictions imposed by executive orders, López Figueroa said last week, adding that Puerto Rican police have at least 3,689 complaints about Covid-19 violations received.
While police are increasing their presence, local business owners in Santurce said in a statement that they were concerned that the problems surrounding tourist behavior and the subsequent repression would affect their businesses.
“We are not to blame for the lack of guidance and the bad behavior of the tourists,” the Merchants Association of La Placita de Santurce said in a Facebook entry.
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company announced this week that it has launched an English-language educational campaign to educate tourists about the island’s Covid-19 restrictions and the consequences if they do not follow the rules.
At the same time, the governor of Puerto Rico said Thursday that he views the expected increase in tourism as something positive.
“Those visits have an impact on our economy,” Governor Pierluisi said. “Yes, everyone is welcome, but what we do warn is that there is an executive order that must be followed and it applies to everyone, of visitors. to residents. . “
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