“Don’t come here.” ”Stay home.” These pleas are being posted to social media by Puerto Ricans on the island, as waves of tourists and visitors continue to jam the airport in San Juan. Still mired in recovery from Hurricane Maria, a series of earthquakes, and now drought and water rationing, the island territory, which has an already over-stressed medical infrastructure, can’t take many more blows.
Puerto Rico has had very strict rules and a curfew to attempt to keep COVID-19 from spreading across the island and for awhile, they seemed to be working. However, the pressure to open the island to tourism, which accounts for about 10% of the island’s GDP, is real, and appointed Gov. Wanda Vázquez, who had announced a date for opening up the island, has had to backtrack as COVID-19 cases spike.
Danica Coto, an excellent reporter to follow for Puerto Rico coverage, explores the rollbacks for the Associated Press:
Puerto Rico’s governor on Thursday announced major rollbacks including the closure of bars, gyms, marinas, theaters and casinos and restricted the use of beaches as the U.S. territory is hit by a spike in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. Gov. Wanda Vázquez said the changes and an ongoing curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. will remain in place until July 31.“We’ve reached a level where we need to take more restrictive measures,” she said. […]
In recent days, mayors in cities and towns across Puerto Rico took their own action ahead of the governor’s announcement, concerned about the spike. Some, like the popular tourist town of Rincón, closed beaches while others limited restaurants to take out and delivery, and launched their own contact tracing efforts, noting that the central government is not properly keeping track of cases.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz took it one step further Wednesday. She banned anyone who is not a resident, worker or tourist staying in a hotel or Airbnb from entering the historic part of the capital known as Old San Juan from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. In addition, she announced fines for anyone not wearing a face mask in public places.
This chart, posted by CBS reporter David Begnaud, shows the flattened curve and the spike:
And more on the closures from Bloomberg:
Puerto Rico officially reopened to tourists on Wednesday, requiring incoming travelers to present a negative Covid-19 test or isolate themselves for 14 days. On Thursday, Vazquez suggested that might have been premature. She said only those with pressing needs on the island should travel here. And she said the commonwealth would not begin advertising itself as a tourism destination until Aug. 15. […]
Vazquez said she had asked the Federal Aviation Administration to limit incoming flights from Florida and Texas, two centers of the pandemic. However, a similar request early on in the outbreak was rejected by the federal government.
Here’s one plea from the island, which is unable to close its airports.
This tweet translates to “Citizens denounce the jam of passengers who arrived this afternoon from Florida, Boston and New Jersey to the Luis Muñoz Marín airport in San Juan.”
Guess where the influx of visitors are coming from?
The people arriving aren’t getting tested.
On top of the general concerns about new arrivals, word spread quickly about an incident with a tourist in Rincón, which simply increased local outrage.
If you have plans to travel to Puerto Rico, I’d strongly suggest you change them. Your tourist dollars are not worth Puerto Rican lives.