Covid protection in Oaxaca
On the flight from Houston to Oaxaca, not everyone took off their masks to eat and drink, as they would on most internal U.S. flights, even if only for “faux mask removal-motivated drinking” [FMRMD].
You have to fill out some forms, through an app, on your smart phone in advance. When you arrive they ask: “Did you fill out the forms?” Say yes if you did.
They let you in, no test required, no other questions asked. They do check your baggage tag against the bag you take away.
Nearly everyone in central Oaxaca city wears a mask all the time in public, including outside. It is like San Francisco at its mask-wearing peak.
They spray the sides of the parks with something that smells like hand sanitizer.
If you wish to enter a store, you have to accept some hand sanitizer. This is perhaps an efficient tax on browsing. Toward the end of the day, however, they dispense with the tax.
Some establishments spray your clothes when you enter, maybe it is water? Some spray you front and back. Staff compliance does not seem to be grudging, rather the “Mexican petty bureaucracy” seems to be mobilized and out in force and with real enthusiasm.
There is a place along the local highway where they stop all cars, and have everyone get out to accept a dose of hand sanitizer.
I wonder how the equilibrium operates. Of all the above measures, perhaps only the masks stand a chance of helping? Does the rest of the security theater make it easier for them to largely stay open?