partial shutdown

 

I almost became a rabbi. Almost.

In the late 1980s, I took a series of classes on talmudic exegesis. My goal was not to convert. What I wanted to do was to hone my relationship with scripture by looking at it through the eyes of a different perspective.

I am glad I took the courses because it provided me with a skill set to try to make some sense of Jalisco's current two-week quasi-shutdown.

Last week, the governor of Jalisco issued an order designed to slow down the rate of virus infection in the state. The rate as of last Sunday had exceeded 400 confirmed cases per million inhabitants. That triggered a set of rules. The fact that the governor took the action without federal authority is just another layer of this tale. But we do not need to deal with the Mexican politics that fuels the action.

I do not envy any politician who has to draft rules to deal with the virus. Immunologists know very little about the specifics of the virus or the disease it causes. That is changing over time.

But they do know a lot about how the family of coronaviruses are transmitted. Primarily by air from an infected person, and by physical contact. That is why we hear the constant mantra of masks, social distancing, raccoon-like hand washing, and avoidance of face-touching. (I bet merely by mentioning it, you just touched your face.)

It is good to keep those goals in mind while reading the mind-numbing list of rules that went into effect Friday night and will last for two weeks -- if not more. And to avoid the economic disaster created during the  semana santa shutdown, economic concerns, as well as health control, are part of the mix.

As of Sunday night; Jalisco exceeded 400 cases per million inhabitants. That is why the governor and the state health department, but not the federal government, have decided to press the emergency button.

The economy will be maintained, but everyone is to avoid entertainment and leisure activities, especially private meetings.

From 30 October until 13 November, the following restrictions apply.

Open Monday to Friday:

Restaurants, restaurant-bars, shops, self-service stores, grocery stores, offices, sports teams, clubs, gyms, churches, nurseries, and common areas in hotels, but must close at 7 PM.

Restaurants may provide home delivery of food after 7PM, but customers are not allowed to pick up the food at the restaurant.

Supermarkets close at 8 PM.

All public transportation closes down at 9 PM.

Health services and pharmacies may maintain their regular hours.

Saturday and Sunday:

All shops must close for the weekend, with the exception of self-service stores and neighborhood groceries who must close at 7 pm

Flea markets, markets, sports teams, clubs, gyms, and parks are closed at all times during the weekend.

Restaurants (including taquerías) cannot serve people at their establishments, but they can offer food to be delivered until noon.

Saturday and Sunday masses are prohibited.

Uber Eats and Rappi may not operate.

Health services and pharmacies may maintain their regular hours.

Transportation:

Public transportation will operate between 6 AM and 9 PM.

Uber, Didi, and platform transports will stop operating at 9pm.

There will be a special transportation service for medical personnel, civil protection and security.

The civil protection bases may offer transportation services to health personnel of the municipality.

Activities that can never open during the two weeks:

Party halls, casinos and clubs.

Private parties.

Cemeteries.

All large events of more than 10 people. (I assume this is targeted at Day/Night of the Dead celebrations)

Tianguis.

Government Activities:

Government offices will operate on normal hours Monday to Friday, but not on the weekends.

Masks and social distancing are required when people leave their homes.

I have also been told that the beaches are open, but access will be restricted to between 5 AM and 3 PM Tuesday to Saturday, and from 5 AM to 10 AM on Sunday and Monday. There is some confusion because those limitations are not listed in the official order from the governor that I cited above, but they are listed on the governor's blog.

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Those are the rules. And they come with teeth. Any business not complying with the regime will be closed and its license will be revoked. Assuming, of course, the business has a license. For the past couple days, inspectors have contacted the businesses in the villages and required them to sign an order with the shutdown requirements.

It all sounds very impressive. Even though some of the permutations of the rules are what we lawyers euphemistically call "complex," they all seem to meet the stated goal of controlling the virus without unduly damaging the economy.

Let me give an example of the complexity. During the summer, a small group of us who live here all year gather at Costalegre Community Church for modified church services. We had to stop meeting there when the summer floods took out the street in front of the church. So, we started meeting in a home.

When the new rules came out, we were faced with a dilemma. The street in front of the church had been repaired. Could we meet in the church? Probably not; all churches were ordered to close on Sundays. Our group constituted less than 10 people. Could we meet under the small group exception? Or could we continued to meet at the house? What would happen if more than 10 people showed up?

We finally fell back on looking at the purpose of the rules. It is designed to stop transmissions of the virus. And because all of us are at high-risk if we catch the disease, we decided we would help break the potential chain of transmission by not meeting for two Sundays. 

I went to dinner at Simona's on Friday with my friends Lou and Wynn, the first night the rules went into effect. Simona closed her doors at 7 PM, as the rules require. But, on my walk back to my house, every other restaurant was serving food to guests sitting at tables -- especially on Nueva España.

My experience on Saturday evening was quite different. Most of the shops were closed. I assume they had been all day in accordance with the order.

And all the restaurants who had guests at tables on Friday had put their tables away and were offering only take-out orders with plenty of people standing next to one another waiting for their orders. (I never expected much more than that. Most restaurant operations here are too small to offer home deliveries of that magnitude.)

Only the shops that sell chotchkies to tourists were open -- but they did close at 7.

Other than the shops who were in compliance, most of the restaurants came close.

The noncompliance came in two other areas. The first is the ban on celebrations with more than 10 people.

Last night there were two big celebrations in my general neighborhood. A birthday party and some other kind of street party. The birthday party easily had more than 10 people in attendance. The street party must have had close to 30 people. I cannot imagine that anyone would have thought the result would be any different because of what a politician had to say.

The second was masks and social distancing. Barra de Navidad is a tourist town. By nature, tourists gather in knots -- especially in a culture where relationships are primary. And masks simply never have caught on here. Not even during the last big shutdown.

On my hour walk last night I saw the grand total of five masks on perhaps 500 people. (That last number is just an estimate. The 5 was by count.) And I did not expect these rules to change that particular behavior.

There is a third category -- the beach. If I am not certain what the rule is, I do not know how tourists can be expected to comply with it. The rump beach that still survives in Barra was not crowded, but there were several groups of people enjoying it in the late afternoon.

I Know there are still some of you who are trying to decide whether to fly south, and the virus contagion here is one of many considerations. Jalisco recognizes that. The hope is that this two-weeks will help drive down the contagion. It is probably a hope not supported by similar methods in other countries. At least, it is something.

The rules came at a terrible time for local businesses. Restaurants and hotels were starting to see a bit of revenue recovery with the early arrival of some northerners. And then their best revenue nights were stripped from them for two weeks -- of what already may be a light season. But if the infection rate does not come down, some visitors are going to be put off by the risk.

I had hoped that the rules would be somewhat comforting to people who are still sitting on the fence about visiting the villages this season. But the results are a mixed bag. The masks and social distancing are the most apparent evidence that some people coming south will constantly feel uncomfortable while they are here. I do not see that behavior changing.

The best news will be if the Jalisco infection rate is pulled down by people obeying the governor's order. Otherwise, the whole thing will be an exercise in futility when it comes to making travel plans.

I suspect the rest of the days of this two week shutdown will be repeats of what I witnessed yesterday afternoon and last night. I hope it helps with your decision-making process.

All are welcome to come. But I fully understand if a large group of you decide not to come. After all, it is your life, not mine.