U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico Issue Global Health Advisory at Level 4 Due to COVID-19 for U.S. Citizens, Recommends Not to Travel to Mexico for Holy Week-Easter Holiday
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
As the religious Holy Week-Easter holiday approaches the world, the United States Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico and its U.S. Consulate Offices throughout Mexico issued a Global Health Advisory at Level 4 due to COVID-19 for U.S. citizens seeking to visit their family, relatives, and friends in Mexico during the Holy Week-Easter holiday.
On April 3, 2020, the U.S. Embassy and Consulate Offices issued a video presentation of its Global Health Advisory at Level 4 to U.S. citizens advising all U.S. citizens planning on visiting and traveling to Mexico to visit their family and relatives during the Holy Week-Easter Holiday should not go to Mexico due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health restrictions imposed by Mexico at the U.S.-Mexico border, including health screenings by state and federal authorities.
U.S. Consul Kathryn Flachsbart of the U.S. Consulate Office in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico stated in the video that all U.S. citizens should be aware that the U.S. State Department has issued a Global Health Advisory at Level 4 due to the COVID-19 pandemic recommending that U.S. citizens should avoid all international travel and the health and security of U.S. citizens are its priority. Consul Flachsbart adds that currently travel is restricted to essential travel across U.S.-Mexico border. Mexican authorities have increased health screenings of vehicles and buses at some ports of entry. U.S. citizens are subject to being denied entry or quarantine in Mexico. Flachsbart adds that the U.S. Department of State “encourages U.S. citizens to stay home and limit travel unless it is absolutely essential.”
Consul Flachsbart states that “If you are a citizen that normally resides in the United States, you should arrange for your immediate return unless you are prepared to stay for an indefinite period in Mexico.” Flachsbart adds that “this is not the time to make that trip” to Mexico to visit family and friends during the Holy Week-Easter holiday. Flachsbart notes that “Mexican states continue to introduce limits on movement in response to COVID-19.”
Flachsbart adds that “If you are a U.S. citizen resident in Mexico, and plan to stay here during the duration of the pandemic, or if you are one of our many Mexican friends or colleagues, please follow the guidelines provided by local authorities and stay home except for essential absolute activities. If you are sick, please isolate yourself and call your Doctor to find out what to do.” Flachsbart provides that if U.S. citizen needs assistance in Mexico, to please call the U.S. Embassy and Consulate at 81-4160-5512.
