YES!  NO!  Uh…MAYBE!  STAY TUNED!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for June 1-12, 2020

MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

 

 

It looked like there was a ray of hope there for a bit regarding opening Baja for tourism again.  Indeed, there was a bright spot as June 16^th was repeatedly bandied about as the day the quarantine and lockdown would be lifted.

 

Health inspections were taking place.  Businesses were sending employees to classes to learn about new health protocols.  Hotels and restaurants were digging themselves out from almost 3 months of dusty Baja darkness.

 

It seemed there was a green light in the distance and everyone was moving towards it.

 

But wait.  Not just yet.

 

That green light still sits at the end of the tunnel, but it’s gotten a bit dimmer.  Or perhaps it’s because it has moved further away.

 

I waited to post this latest update and report because I knew that last Wednesday, Governor Carlos Mendoza Davis, the governor of Baja Sur, was going to post a new state address about the re-opening.    He was going to give a more definitive word about what was going to happen after June 15th.

 

Well, last Wednesday, the governor broadcast the message and all it did was leave alot of us scratching our heads; others pulling their hair out; and others just laughing at the ambiguity of the message.  I sort of get it.  I’m glad I’m not a politician right now.

In a nutshell the government has broken down re-opening into six “traffic light” segments based on how bad they think the infection situation is.  Here’s the chart.  See if it makes sense:

 

 

Every business or entity will be judged by and given a “light.”  That will determine if they can open and then, in what capacity they can operate.  All of this, of course, is also based on how badly the pandemic is doing at that particular time.   And, just because you have a certain “color” designation does not pre-clude that your color can be changed at any time.  Kinda like a kid’s game board…up…back…sideways.  Do not pass “Go.”  Skip ahead 2 spaces…etc.

 

Shutting down again is not out of the question…just like the rest of the world.

 

However…Governor Mendoza Davis is not going to tell anyone their color UNTIL JUNE 15th…NEXT MONDAY!

 

It begs the question…how is anyone going to monitor this?

 

That hotel gets a green.  The one next to it is a yellow.  One restaurant is red.  The other is an orange.  Who is counting the number of people on the beaches or parks to make sure that only a certain percentage are on the beach or park at a given time?  Who is measuring the distance between tables in a restaurant?

 

And this is based on so many conflicting reports.  Just in the last few days here’s what I pulled from Mexican news sources.  Many contradict their own stories:

• Some World Tourism Organization declared Cabo to be the first “safe” destination on Baja’s Pacific Coast (but no one has heard of this organization)
• But…Health officials say the virus is spiking again and thing are opening too soon
• Many businesses have received their official “health certification.”
• But…Health officials say the the peak of infections has not yet hit and Baja Sur is one of the new hot spots in Mexico
• Some tourists are already filtering back into Cabo
• But…most hotels cannot yet open
• The government says the curve has flattened according to the statistics
• But…other groups says the numbers are skewed and falsely reported in order to get the businesses open again
• The severe lockdown is still in place for locals and non-essential businesses
• But…many people are ignoring it.  Businesses found in violation are simply given a warning.  People in violation are told to go home.

 

And on and on…

 

 

The lifting of the Baja quarantine was predicated upon the diminishing number of infections in the area. Compared to the rest of the country, Baja, as a whole, was doing pretty good.  Only a handful of cases compared to other areas.

 

However, in the past week or so, there has been a steady up-surge in Covid infections attributable possibly to a number of variables.

 

For one, about 2 weeks ago, local residents largely ignored social-distancing and came out in numbers for parties related to Mothers’ Day as well as Childrens Day.   Police busted hundreds of secret parties.  Numerous groups where chased off the beaches.

 

Add to that the fact that locals have just been antsy.  Police can’t stop everyone.  They can’t be everywhere.

 

So, out everyone went.  Social distancing be damned and folks just started getting out.  Vendors started selling.  People were out shopping.  Folks were eating out.  As soon as police cleared one beach, folks just drifted off to other beaches or other areas.   Social media was used to warn each other about areas to avoid where police might be checking.  A big game.

 

And to some degree, the police either stopped caring or realized the futility of too few resources for too big a job.

 

And, so up go the numbers.

 

Many businesses that had planned to open after mid-June are now saying that they will wait for an “official” word to re-open.  Others have not even started to open.  Others don’t care.  They have to work and so they open and hope not to get caught.  Most stay closed.

 

As one business owner told me, “I can’t afford to bring back all our staff and pay them to clean up and sanitize our place and take health classes.  Then, they will only have to sit around waiting for a real opening date.  Or I send them home again.  I can’t afford to do that nor do I want to do that to my employees.”

 

So, he will just wait.

 

In fact, Baja’s government is now being accused by health administrators of covering up their true infection numbers so that they could jumpstart the economy.

 

In the rest of the country, the virus appears to be raging, especially in urban areas where social distancing is difficult and medical attention is already inundated.

 

The government says the worst is over. The curve is flattening.  Health officials scratch their heads and say, Mexico is just heading into the worst of it as bodies stack up in hospital storage rooms and morgues still not officially reported Crematoriums can’t keep up.

 

The entire country…all the Mexican states…have been painted red by the health ministers.  Red as in “Code Red.”

 

However, the individual states are being left to decide for themselves whether and when they will make their moves to re-open.  Like everywhere, it’s a precarious decision.

 

For now, as far as I can discern from the numerous new reports that emanate daily, Baja is on hold.  Wait-and-see.  Until after June 15th.

 

Ports and marinas are slated to be open by June 16^th.  The border closing is supposed to terminate (driving only) by June 22.  Beaches are supposed to be open June 30^th.  But wait-and-see.

 

International Terminal 2 at the Cabo Airport, maybe not until July.

 

But, if there’s no hotels, airlines, restaurants or other services open, it’s going to be very difficult to ramp up the tourism machine…just yet.

 

Head towards that green light in the distance, but pump the breaks and slow it down a bit.  We finally have tickets to fly home June 23rd.  But, that may change if we have no place to live and hotels aren’t open yet.

 

Personally, I think things won’t be back until July.   I can guarantee one thing.  Probably everything you just read and saw on this report will change by the time you’re seeing this.

 

IN OTHER NEWS...

Breweries have been re-opened and have been deemed “essential” to business and are now trucking out cases as fast-as-they-can to re-fill shelves and refrigerators after many weeks of no beer sales!  Yes…even THAT beer with the unlucky name of a certain virus is back on the shelves too!

 

 

No matter what…please take care of each other and be good to each other!  These are trying times indeed.