Three-Stage Plan Includes Traffic Light / Plan is Optional

Three-stage plan, including a traffic light. The national COVID-19 pandemic recovery plan will be a three-stage effort. The first stage is the resumption of activities in 269 municipalities starting next week, the second is a period to prepare for the “new normal,” and the third is a four-color traffic light that will detail how to fully resume activities. The plan, presented by Minister of Economy Graciela Márquez considers:

1. On May 18, the 269 “Municipalities of Hope” located in 15 states, where there are no recorded COVID-19 cases, will reopen, albeit with a cordon sanitaire to limit the movement of people in and out of the areas.

2. From May 18 to May 31, the country will prepare for reopening. Construction, mining and transport manufacturing will be upgraded to “essential activities.” Márquez explained that before resuming production, each company must implement health and safety protocols, including personnel training, readjusting work spaces and production processes, screenings at entry points and workplace sanitation, among others.

3. Starting June 1, all social, academic and economic activities will resume according to a red, orange, yellow and green risk traffic light. “It measures five categories: public health and workplaces, work activities, open and closed public spaces, vulnerable people and academic activities,” Márquez explained. While the light is red, only essential productive activities will be allowed.

Plan is optional. President López Obrador said that if states or municipalities decide not to abide by the recovery plan there will be no issue with the federal authority, since its application is optional and based on people’s accountability. “If there is a state or municipal authority that, according to the characteristics of each region or state, decides not to abide by this plan, there will be no issue. Although the plan has been agreed in general terms, it also admits discrepancies and the right to disagree,” he said.

Mitigation measures now will be regional. Deputy Minister of Health Hugo López-Gatell said that now each region or state will adapt the health emergency plan accordingly to their infection rate. “A large part of the territory is without cases and this allows us to lift or suspend national measures,” he said, but highlighted that easing the national scope does not imply that basic mitigation actions to contain the COVID-19 pandemic are being lifted.

Gradual return to school. Minister of Public Education Esteban Moctezuma reported that academic activities will resume after the traffic light turns to green. “When it is safe for our girls and boys and the school community, and this is indicated by the health authority,” he said.

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish