Mexican Authorities Implement COVID-19 Inspection of American Travelers at Piedras Negras-Eagle Pass Two International Bridges
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
In an unprecedented public health precautionary measure taken by Mexican authorities at the United States-Mexico Border, Mexican Federal Public Health Representatives together with the State of Coahuila Attorney General Gerardo Marquez Guevara and Piedras Negras, Coahuila Mayor Claudio Bres Garza announced on Friday, April 3, 2020 the implementation of COVID-19 precautionary measures upon all southbound American travelers at the two international bridges in Piedras Negras and Eagle Pass, Texas commencing on Saturday, April 4, 2020.
American travelers going into Mexico are being given a questionnaire to answer regarding where they have traveled to the past 14 days, if they have experienced any symptoms of fever, cough, and respiratory breathing problems, if they have had contact with any person who tested positive for COVID-19, and what is their destination in Mexico as well as taking a temperature reading while entering Mexico at the two Piedras Negras-Eagle Pass international bridges effective Saturday, April 4, 2020.
State of Coahuila Attorney General Gerardo Marquez Guevara stated that these precautionary COVID-19 measures are designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the communities of Mexico, particularly now in light of the growing pandemic and the anticipated visit of tens of thousands of Mexican-Americans and Mexicans to Mexico during the upcoming Easter holiday.
Marquez Guevara added that any person with a fever or raising public health concerns from their questionnaire responses will be directed to the federal and state public health authorities for treatment or quarantine before traveling into the interior of Mexico.
Marquez Guevara noted that these precautionary public health measures are standard international travel norms usually applied to international air travelers at airports and would be applied temporarily on a contingency basis until further notice.
The two Piedras Negras-Eagle Pass International Bridges annually receive tens of thousand visitors during Holy Week and Easter holidays seeking to visit families in the largely predominant Catholic México.
Both American and Mexican authorities are bracing for the increased surge of travelers from the United States to Mexico despite the current COVID-19 Pandemic afflicting both the United States and Mexico and the joint agreement between both countries to close the southern border to non-essential travel while only allowing essential travel and international trade and commerce to continue to flow between the two nations.
