Tamaulipas on Thursday placed restrictions on non-essential travel at international bridges to halt the spread of COVID-19.
Francisco Galvan, from the governor’s office in Tamaulipas, said in an interview that even though Tamaulipas is still on Phase 2 of the coronavirus with cases not as high as other states in Mexico, the restrictions intend to keep the families safe.
“We started this morning,” he said. “Even though Tamaulipas is still on Phase 2 and we are not on an increasing curve, like Nuevo Leon, Chihuahua and other states in Mexico. Health officials of the government of Tamaulipas decided to take this preventive measure so that cases don’t skyrocket, especially during these days, where there is a lot of traffic. With the purpose of discouraging that traffic, it was decided to implement again these filters.”
The sanitary filters will check for the following:
- Travelers should not have any symptoms of sickness (temperature will be checked);
- Travelers must wear face covering at all times, which must be on before accessing the sanitary checkpoint;
- No more than two people in the same vehicle;
- To follow the guidelines of the “no circula” which allows only certain plate numbers on vehicles to be on the streets. On Mondays, plates ending on 0 and 1 will not be allowed to cross, on Tuesday those ending with 2 and 3, Wednesday 4 and 5, Thursday 6 and 7 and Friday 8 and 9. During weekends there are not limitations on plates but the filter for essential traveling will continue;
- The motive of traveling must be essential such as work or doctor appointment and must show written proof. Other motives include having to make payments or paperwork in the other city, educational activities and being part of the Programa Paisano;
- No children or elderly in the vehicle.
“We will check if they have fever and pay attention to all visible symptoms they may have such as coughing,” Galvan said. “They also have to wear face covering, at all times. For example, if we see that there is someone getting closer to the checkpoint without a face covering and it is barely taking it out of their bag to put it on, that person will be sent back. They have to wear the face covering since the moment they are crossing the bridge.”
