Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – With the COVID-19 pandemic dominating the world’s news and social media channels, it can be difficult to determine what’s really happening in Puerto Vallarta, the State of Jalisco, and around the Republic. Here we share some of the latest news from reliable sources in Mexico.
Florios Restaurant Doing Good in the Neighborhood
Puerto Vallarta restaurant owners and their employees are suffering greatly as they struggle to deal with the economic impact of the COVID-19 quarantine, but that’s not stopping them from serving the community. Last week, Miguel Valenzuela, the owner of Florios Restaurant in downtown Puerto Vallarta, made the following announcement via his Facebook page: “This coming Wednesday, my family and I will be cooking with great love with the sole intention of helping those who need us most.” He invited everyone in need of a meal to come to Florios at 3:00 pm with a resuable container to be filled with delicious and life sustaining food. On April 15, a line of hungry people waited patiently on the sidewalk across from Florios with containers in hand, which were filled with the massive amounts of food that Miguel’s employees worked without pay to cook and serve. “This is what friends do, because you never know when you will be the one on the other side of the street needing help,” Miguel said. After seeing the video on Facebook, PV resident Bill MacKenzie commented, “People like Miguel are why our hearts will never stray from the people and the streets of Vallarta.” And we couldn’t agree more. Everyone here at Banderas News thanks the Florios team for giving us another reason to be proud of our community.
Mexico Secretary of Health Extends Quarantine
During his Thursday morning Covid19 report, Mexico’s Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell, said that, based on the recommendations made by the scientific group studying the pandemic in Mexico, the government has extended the preventive measures against the coronavirus, such as home confinement, the suspension of classes and all non-essential economic activities, until May 30. According to the analysis, the peak of infections is expected to occur in Mexico between May 8 and 10, therefore the social distancing measures have been extended for another month. “These measures are giving results and if they continue they will continue to give results,” said the undersecretary. However, communities with low or no transmission of the Covid19 virus MAY be given the go-ahead to return to school and other non-essential activities on May 17 – if they maintain this status between now and then. Sadly, Puerto Vallarta is not considered a ‘green zone,’ so the quarantine will remain in place here until May 30. If all goes well, we will be able to return to a certain sense of normalcy on June 1.
Arrests Begin for Noncompliance of Restrictions in Public Spaces
Two weeks after Puerto Vallarta’s public spaces were closed to contain the spread of Covid-19, and less than a week after Mayor Arturo Dávalos Peña warned that people who do not abide by the restrictions would be arrested, the arrests have begun. According to Dávalos Peña, two people who were playing tennis at the municipal sports stadium were recently arrested, and a group practicing zumba in the La Lija Sports Unit was dissolved by the municipal police earlier this week. He reminded citizens that, like beaches, rivers, and the Malecón, the city’s recreational spaces are also closed to the public. He specified that, for the moment, police are issuing administrative warnings or fines to people reluctant to abide by these restrictive measures, but those refuse to comply will be arrested. The Mayor also reiterated his call for the people of Puerto Vallarta to remain at home to curb the spread of the coronavirus and prevent the number of infections from growing.
Entertaining Puerto Vallarta Livestreams and Webinars
Since listening to great music and learning something new are great ways to pass the time while sequestered at home, Click HERE (and scroll down) for info on a few of this weekend’s online events that are sure to inform, educate and entertain.