Many parks, beach clubs and other outdoor attractions are now open and safely welcoming visitors again in Cozumel, including Chankanaab, Punta Sur, Passion Island and our Mayan Encounter.
Strict new health measures are being enforced, including all staff receiving special training; staff wearing face masks and visors; staff and visitor temperature checks; visitors wearing face masks in areas of closer contact (but not when relaxing at a safe social distance or eating/drinking, etc); constant disinfection of areas; sanitizing gel dispensers and social distancing of visitors.
The frequency of flights to Cozumel has increased, hotels have opened and the first tourists have returned to the island over last couple of weeks. They are enjoying the newly opened attractions in Cozumel like VIPs for the moment, as they are still largely empty with heaps of space to keep groups apart.
We expect international visitors to start arriving in more significant numbers by air and ferry in the coming weeks, but cruise ships won't be returning until at least September, so the island will be relatively quiet for many months yet, making it a wonderful time to visit.
Cozumel has also become one of the first destinations in the world to receive the new "Safe Travels" safety and hygiene stamp from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). The stamp is awarded to destinations and tourism businesses that are implementing new protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as reduced capacities, extra cleaning, the use of face coverings and minimum distances between different groups.
At the moment hotels and tourism businesses can operate at 30% capacity. This will increase to 60% when Cozumel moves to the yellow phase of the regional reactivation plan, which could be as early as July 13, 2020, but depends on indicators including the number of new cases confirmed on the island and the capacity of hospitals.
According to data from the Quintana Roo State Government at 12 noon on July 1, 2020, there had been a total of 95 COVID-19 cases confirmed on the island, with 47 recovered and 19 deaths.
The re-openings are great news, but there are still a huge number of people on the island who have been without work or income for almost 4 months now and an increasing number are depending on food parcels to feed their families. We have extended our Food Aid Cozumel campaign to buy food parcels for those most affected, please support and share our the campaign if you'd like to help them.
