Government officials in Sonora, the Mexican state that borders Arizona, have established additional checkpoints across the border over the holiday weekend to prevent unauthorized travel and carry out health checks on people crossing from the United States.
In a statement, the governor of Sonora, Claudia Pavlovich Arellano, said that the objective is to avoid “people [living in the US] who want to come and spend the weekend and leave us with a greater burden of Covid. ”
The United States and Mexico agreed to close their shared border in March to all non-essential activity. It will remain closed until at least the end of July.
Crossings considered essential, for things like business or medical appointments, are still allowed.
But Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador told reporters on Friday that there have recently been numerous cases of people crossing from Arizona to Sonora for non-essential reasons. That is why he agreed to deploy federal resources to assist staff at the new checkpoints.
“The government of Sonora is monitoring the border so that the established rules are followed, but [the rules] they are not new, “he said during his press conference on Friday morning.
Sonora government officials have reason to be concerned about the spread of the virus from Arizona. The state has witnessed an increase in coronavirus cases recently, posting record increases in the past week as the total number of cases nears 100,000. And ICU units in hospitals across the state are close to capacity.
Sonora health officials have reported just over 8,000 cases in the state, but that number has more than doubled in the past month as Mexico’s epidemic continues to worsen.
In the border communities of the United States and Mexico, traveling back and forth across the border is common.
There is alarm in Sonora that a major holiday in the United States, when families travel for gatherings and cookouts, could intensify the outbreak in northern Mexico.
Checkpoints will be located at ports of entry and along nearby highways and highways. Popular tourist areas will also be monitored.
“We already know what places … Americans normally visit,” said Governor Pavlovich.
Immigration officials, members of the Mexican National Guard and state police will deploy personnel for the checkpoints, which will run until Sunday, July 5, the Mexican consulate in Tucson announced in a statement.
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