Oso
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2637
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: on da border
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Mood: wait and see
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Return to Normalcy?
By Tracy Wilkinson
May 7, 2009
Reporting from Mexico City -- Smells of soap and bleach mixed with the aroma of grilled meat and fried tortillas as Mexicans on Wednesday scrubbed
down sidewalks, opened up restaurants and tried to shake off days of flu-induced solitude. But the country's much-anticipated "return to normal" was
more of a stumble than a leap.
Merchants complained that the rules they must abide by in reopening their stores, restaurants and theaters are so onerous that they might as well stay
closed. A person sitting in a theater, for example, is supposed to keep two seats vacant on either side -- as well as a row in front of and behind
him.
"There will be more people on the stage than in the audience," said theater producer Tina Galindo.
And even as businesses and offices opened their doors, vendors returned to the streets and traffic picked up considerably in sprawling Mexico City,
the nationwide death toll from the H1N1 flu virus rose dramatically. That in turn made many parents wonder whether it was really safe to let their
children return to school, a process that is supposed to begin today. Compounding their concerns: Officials said 40% of the nation's schools have
substandard bathrooms.
"The fact that we are renewing activities is to try to return gradually to normal, but obviously we cannot yet return to normal," Health Secretary
Jose Angel Cordova said.
Authorities say the swine flu outbreak has cost the country, already mired in recession, billions of dollars, especially in the hard-hit tourism
industry and among small businesses.
The rules for reopening could result in further economic woes, businessmen said.
By limiting seating in theaters, a venue with capacity for 960 spectators would be able to seat only 160.
"It's absurd," said Silvia Pinal, a veteran actress from Mexico's golden age of cinema.
Restaurants, some of which reopened Wednesday after eight days, are required to position diners 6 feet apart and screen them when they enter,
surveying their health status and offering antibacterial gel for their hands.
"We are here and ready. I just hope the customers come," cashier Adelfina Villalobos said from behind her medical face mask at El Farolito, a chain
restaurant offering low-cost tacos al carbon and carnitas. Employees had removed chairs from every other table to comply with the
distance-between-diners regulation.
Ignacio Margulis, who runs an Argentine steakhouse, was rearranging his tables, removing some, to allow for the required space. It will cut the number
of customers he can serve by about half.
"Beginnings are hard, but we'll get through it," he said. "A few customers will come today, tomorrow a few more. Little by little."
Fancier eateries apparently decided it wasn't worth it; several along Mexico City's fashionable Avenida Presidente Masaryk remained closed.
Meanwhile, Mexicans got another reminder of what global pariahs they have become when a chartered AeroMexico jet returned here early Wednesday with
138 Mexican tourists ordered back from China. Some had been rounded up by Chinese authorities and quarantined even though they weren't sick, an action
that outraged Mexican officials.
To compensate for the humiliation, the Mexican government gave the returning tourists something of a hero's welcome, dispatching the first lady,
Margarita Zavala, to receive them before dawn at the presidential hangar of the Mexico City airport.
Emerging from a flight of nearly two days, they told stories of being yanked from their planes upon arrival in China, being poked, probed and tested,
and being denied access to hotels, just because they held Mexican passports.
"It was like we were criminals," passenger Rosa Martha Garcia said.
Chinese officials have said they were merely taking health precautions in a country devastated by the SARS epidemic in 2003, and were not motivated by
xenophobia.
China was one of several countries that halted flights to and from Mexico and tried to isolate Mexican visitors. Even Haiti, one of the poorest
countries in the world, turned away a Mexican ship carrying 77 tons of desperately needed food and other aid, according to Mexican officials. The
shipment was part of $324 million in pledges made at an international donors conference last month at the Inter-American Development Bank in
Washington.
Having assured the public that the epidemic was declining in its infectious spread, Cordova, the health secretary, said Wednesday that the death toll
in Mexico had jumped to 42, from 29 the day before. He said the higher figure did not represent a new wave of infection; rather, a faster rate of
testing was confirming cases more quickly. Five people had died in the preceding six days, he said.
An additional 1,070 people in Mexico are confirmed to have been infected with the virus, the majority of them already recovered, Cordova said. The
government says it cannot run tests on an additional 77 suspicious deaths.
The reality, said Mexican epidemiologist Dr. Alejandro Macias, "is we are not returning to normal. The virus is here to stay. It's here for months,
probably years."
wilkinson@latimes.com
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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Osprey
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3694
Registered: 5-23-2004
Location: Baja Ca. Sur
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I guess we just don't like bad news. Here on East Cape some of the resorts are closed, others just about. Many planes are landing at Los Cabos with 20
or 30 seats filled. I like to see the fishery get a break but this is not what I had in mind.
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vandenberg
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5118
Registered: 6-21-2005
Location: Nopolo
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Mood: mellow
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We're down in La Paz from Loreto, and it's about as quiet here as I have ever seen. Most stores are almost empty and the traffic as light as it was in
the 70's.
We're staying at the El Moro and it seems there's only a very few rooms occupied. And nothing but complaints from the locals about the economy,
including tourism.
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rhintransit
Super Nomad
Posts: 1588
Registered: 9-4-2006
Location: Loreto
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went in to Loreto yesterday and the town is empty. I saw only one other couple in the many tourist oriented shops I visited. one shop owner told me
he hadn't sold anything in six days.
at the bus station...ambulance parked to meet incoming buses, two paramedics dressed in uniforms, masks and disposable gloves were meeting each bus.
sad.
reality\'s never been of much use out here...
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LB
Junior Nomad
Posts: 74
Registered: 10-1-2008
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Spent a few days in Cabo this weekend. For the most part things appeared normal, some bars packed, some restaurants full. Only thing noticeable was
the lack of cruise ships and passengers in the streets.
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
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The Cabo difference is that it is primarily driven by time shares. Folks paid big dough in advance to spend a week there. Thus, they are more likely
to go. Some friends are in that situation. At the Villa del Palmar right now. Several couples traded their week from a resort in Cancun. They were
told by their clearing house, Interval International, that if they didn't go, their week would be lost. Period.
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gnukid
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4411
Registered: 7-2-2006
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In Baja if you have a garden, chickens and you go fishing, this coup is just nonsense. So what the streets are empty, so what the cruise ships are
gone. It makes no sense to be running a tourism business now or to act like a tourist.
The ranchers and peasants laugh and and laugh about the idiocy of the crisis and more so they laugh at the idiocy of those that believe in the words
of the government of Calderon and Obama explaining why their systematic takedown of the economy is necessary for your benefit.
The banking elite are running the government, they are executing a coup that can't be reversed until you stop giving your money to them.
If you haven't planted your garden yet, you are losing precious time. We to need to grow our own food to survive. Whoever controls the food chain
controls the people.
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15940
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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Mood: Everchangin'
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i've got 4 types of tomatos, 2 types of squash, 2 types of beans, peas, 2 types of cucumbers, 3 types of corn, sunflower, bell peppers, jalapeno and
peruvian chilis, 2 types of eggplant, basil, parsley, radishes, peaches, avocados.
i guess i'm covered..... now i just gotta work on a supply of beer and "end of the world" be damned!!!
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
Member Is Offline
Mood: undecided
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It's more of an economy issue than a health issue. Unless you haven't noticed, the USA is experiencing some serious economic down turns.
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
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Who's fault you say?
"their systematic takedown of the economy" 
Yep, it's all their fault! Damn, we sure needed 8 4 more years of the same ol' chiit. How much did that war cost us anyhoo? 
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
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Mood: undecided
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Not as much as this welfare mentality is gonna cost us for generations to come.
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
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Ok o' wise one...... how much is that gonna be? Do you really think anyone gives a squat about "future generations"?
I do agree that 14 children is too many unless you can collect govt checks for being stupid and special.
Say, is Octomom a liberal? Oh wait, she cut a book deal, I guess she is a conservative. See how stupid this all sounds.
DON\'T SQUINT! Give yer eyes a break!
Try holding down [control] key and toggle the [+ and -] keys
Viva Mulege!
Nomads\' Sunsets
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gnukid
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4411
Registered: 7-2-2006
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Is it all just an accident of incompetence? The false epidemic, the billions lost on Mexicos economy in days alone, crisis after crisis-just
incompetence?
The Quiet Coup
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200905/imf-advice?x=36&...
Interview With Economist James K. Galbraith
http://www.truthout.org/050609J
Cashing In on ‘Government Sachs'
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090506_cashing_in_on_g...
http://www.fema.gov/media/fact_sheets/nle09.shtm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05...
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
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Mood: undecided
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All depends upon how old you are. Octomom is a freak. she probably couldn't tell you the correct time. BUT!! When you talk about smoking fish etc. I'm
listening.
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rogerj1
Nomad
Posts: 265
Registered: 4-29-2004
Location: Gig Harbor, WA
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I was fortunate that I was able to cancel my week in Puerto Vallarta next week with RCI. They're usually not real consumer friendly.
Alaska refunded the miles I'd used on the flight, no problem.
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Bajahowodd
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9274
Registered: 12-15-2008
Location: Disneyland Adjacent and anywhere in Baja
Member Is Offline
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Geez. I must admit to certain sympathies with the idea that those with obscene amounts of wealth are orchestrating events. But, I really have to
stretch to connect it to Mexico, the drug war, and the flu epidemic.
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