Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico – Last night, via his social networks, Governor Enrique Alfaro Ramírez addressed the people of Jalisco, saying that the number of COVID cases are increasing in the state not because of government decisions, but because the public has relaxed the health and social distancing measures.
He went on to say that June 11 was the day with the most deaths and infections recorded in the state so far in the pandemic, and reproached the many people that have relaxed the health protocols.
“To put it in perspective, the same number of people who died in the first two months of the pandemic died just this week, and half of the 5,244 infections to date have been presented over the last 10 days.” the governor said.
At a Thursday afternoon meeting, the Inter-institutional Commission for Economic Reactivation and the Health Board unanimously agreed that Jalisco start with an ‘Individual Responsibility’ phase.
The Governor said that in this phase, citizens should focus on taking care of themselves and their families by not going out on the street, except for when is strictly necessary and adhering to all safety and hygiene protocols. “I know that the people of Jalisco will understand what this means. Individual responsibility is the only way that will allow us to get ahead,” he added.
“What was being done [preventive measures] by the people of Jalisco up until three weeks ago was a motive for recognition throughout the Republic. However, reality shows us that the panorama has changed and that we have to react accordingly,” he lamented.
He clarified that his government will now focus on ensuring hospital capacity, and not so much on taking care of the mobility of people on the streets. “The model that worked from the premise that the government would guarantee compliance of the sanitary measures by making them obligatory has ended in practice. People took to the streets, many to work, others only to break the monotony of confinement. Today, we are paying the consequences, that is the reality.”
Finally, he announced that the Health and Economic Rehabilitation Tables unanimously agreed on the steps that will be taken for the next stage of economic reactivation, which will be presented on Sunday.
“The conclusions we reached reflect that we will not be able to move forward as fast as we had planned. In fact, I can anticipate that we are not in a position to move into Phase 1 of the Economic Reactivation Plan [on Monday, June 15],” the Governor reported.
However, he warned that with the number of infections increasing daily, “We will not be able to advance as fast as we had thought. The new reactivation measures will be defined by the composition of the state traffic light, and will only respond to the minimum need to lighten the load on the most economically damaged sectors, which run the risk of permanently closing their activities.”
According to ntrguadalajara.com, the responsibility has now passed to each municipality to prepare for the next phase of economic reactivation. Each municipal government will be in charge of creating protocols and certifying companies authorized to reopen, since the state government will no longer have that obligation.
Sources: jalisco.gob.mx • vallartaopinaenlinea.com • ntrguadalajara.com
