Did the Red Light Stop Mobility?

To avoid further COVID-19 contagions in Mexico City, the state government declared a red-light status, according to the COVID-19 Traffic-Light Status System, to limit the number of people on the streets and to prevent large gatherings during the December holidays. José Antonio Peña Merino, General Director of the Digital Agency of Public Innovation (ADIP), reported a decrease of 26 percent in mobility in the city between Dec. 19 and Dec. 26, according to an article by Proceso. The information was gathered from phone satellites, which detect movement inside the city, and started calculating people’s mobility on Dec. 19 in both Mexico City and the State of Mexico.

Peña Merino revealed, through a videoconference that the municipalities with the highest decrease in mobility were Miguel Hidalgo, Cuauhtemoc, Benito Juarez, Alvaro Obregon, Coyoacan and Gustavo A. Madero, all of them famous for having large commercial areas and department stores. The red-light status prompted businesses such as restaurants, bars and other non-essential activities to close. “What we see right now is a very significant decrease […] in mobility, in a week when Mexico City usually sees significant movement,” said Peña Merino, reported Infobae.

However, there are neighborhoods where mobility remained stable or even increased. “When people stop moving to central zones to do their shopping, people start moving around their neighborhoods, which means mobility in residential areas increased,” Peña Merino explained to Proceso. Last week, there were also reports of high mobility in Cuauhtemoc and Venustiano Carranza. Tepito, a large commercial area, reported a significant surge in mobility. “This is something that cannot be resolved through public force. One has to talk, dialogue and convince. We understand the economic situation a lot of families face, but we have to discuss, orient and convince them [to follow health protocols],” said Claudia Sheinbaum, Mayor of Mexico City, according to Proceso. She addressed consumers and asked them to “follow all distancing measures, as well as all recommendations that are made when grocery shopping so only one person leaves the house. Any other form of purchase must also be done by one person only,” she said.