Mexico

Third wave of Covid-19 prevented the reopening of the Tijuana-San Diego border

Although herd immunity is one of the criteria that will be taken into account for the reopening, this is not the only one, assured Baja California's Secretary of Health

By Adriana Carvajal2021-07-21T19:07:00+00:00

According to Baja California state authorities, the recent extension of restrictions in the border crossings between Mexico and the United States is unjustified since the border municipalities have been vaccinated and the Mexican state has reached herd immunity.

For his part, the head of the Secretariat of Health, Alonso Pérez Rico, said that in addition to this criteria, the U.S. authorities are considering others such as mobility, incidence, active cases, effective reproduction rate, hospitalizations, installed capacity, among others; that is why this issue is being dealt with by a team formed by both countries.

"On the day that the reopening of the border will be scheduled, we will be notified well in advance and they will tell us: these people can cross, you have to have this, this and this".

At this point, it was also commented that the US will consider the number of new infections per capita, according to the mayor of La Mesa in San Diego.

The State Department of the neighboring country takes this issue as "national security", said Baja California authorities, using this argument with the Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs to extend the restrictions until August 21, 2021.

To decrease the spread of COVID-19, including the Delta variant, the United States is extending restrictions on non-essential travel at our land and ferry crossings with Canada and Mexico through August 21, while ensuring the continued flow of essential trade and travel.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 21, 2021

"I do not have the slightest doubt that next month they will authorize it (the lifting of restrictions). They were on the verge of authorizing it this month, but they said: give us a little bit of time, because of the third wave, to see how it will affect us", he assured.

It is also likely to be taken into consideration that Baja California is currently surrounded by states where the increase of cases due to the third wave is already being observed, such as Sonora, Baja California Sur and Sinaloa.

Finally, it was said: "There was no reason to have it (the border) closed already, because we have already complied, at least with what we had promised to do, what the President of Mexico promised to do".

Related video: Vaccination against COVID-19 began at Plaza Río in Tijuana