Mask use in Mexico Right Now-It's IMPORTANT!

[Talleyho69]

Mexico is dealing with Covid completely differently than the US is. Vaccinations are very tightly controlled by the federal government and were/are being administered by age groups. Here in Guerrero, everyone from age 18 and up has had the opportunity to receive 2 vaccinations. The vaccines used vary by age group and include at least three that are not approved in the US including Cansino and Sinovac. There are still a lot of holes. For example, our gardener was face down with Covid when his day arrived to get his first dose. He was not allowed to get the second one because he hadn't had the first and the time between shots is important. Guerrero has not yet had make ups for anyone who missed their first shot, so many are still unvaccinated who want to be vaccinated.

Testing. In Mexico, now, if you are sick and have all the wrong symptoms, chances are good you can go to the government, not private, clinics and wait in line to find out that you have it. So what? Until recently if you thought you had it you called in, they played 20 questions, and if you said the wrong things they would come to you to test you and have you stay at home for quarantine for 14 days. Very different.

MASKS ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!! That is for a couple of reasons. Obviously, to keep you from spreading your germs. OK, you are vaccinated, but how does anyone know that? We obviously are foreigners and the foreigners do whatever that want to do anyway. DON'T MAKE US LOOK BAD!!!!! The tourist police and the regular police here are very visible and passing out masks to those that aren't wearing one. If a non mask wearer approaches with questions, they are offered a mask. If it is refused, and it often is, they ignore the person and walk on. Boy, does that make us look bad. Unless you are sitting at a table with food or drink, playing in a pool or the ocean or lounging around the pool with drinks, you should have one on. Get up to pee? Put it on while you walk there and back.

Some of the public service messages we see, and believe in, when we go to the movies, we eat popcorn. Fine. But if we have to get up and pee, on goes the mask to leave the theater and return. At the gas station, the driver wears a mask while ordering gas and paying for it. When you tip the parking guy who backs you out, you wear your mask.

Remember, even with all the doses we hope all RVers have had, you could be carrying it and pass it on to some poor worker who like our gardener, desperately wants to get his shots and is still waiting. He missed 5 weeks of work while he had Covid, and economically is really struggling. Most workers are. I'm willing to bet money that every single worker you deal with while traveling will have a mask on all the time. Be respectful, wear one too!!!

[Talleyho69]

In over 40 years of road traveling in Mexico, we have always been impressed by the use of masks. They are/were used in grocery stores in service areas, like the deli's where they slice your ham to the places where fish is filleted.

We have been bragging about the mask use in Mexico for this entire time.

Five years ago we spent 2 months in China, touring. We saw extensive mask use, even in Wuhan.

We have been preachers of mask use in the US, and have experienced the use of them when visiting doctors offices and clinics there.

When someone doesn't feel right, or is sick, mask use is culturally normal.

[moisheh]

When cold and flu season arrives Mexicans mask up. Much like in Asian countries.

[Wm_Elliot]

No relation to R. Elliot, funny, because if people get my name wrong they usually call me Bob. But in all my travels in Mexico I have not seen masks worn, and as I stated earlier current discussions and photos on other forums and active webcams of city streets in Mexico reveal few if any masks worn.
It's the same with a newspaper that serves this ares. Practically every photo in the newspaper features mask clad people - yet when I travel out and around it's pretty uncommon to see a person wearing a mask.
Many here are either Californians or Canadians - maybe masks are common in those places but for flyover Americans masks are more a theatrical statement than a proven safeguard. Even Dr. Fauci has admitted as much (although he is like a weather vane in a tornado)
Here's a question: If masks really are effective why are hospitals and other similar facilities firing staff that object to vaccination after they have been wearing masks all this time and could continue to wear masks at work? Are there any statistics of how many Covid cases originated from masked hospital staff?
I realize most folks here think someone like me is ill-informed, selfish, or in denial but I question how seriously any of you have investigated the entire Covid episode as you surrender liberties for all of us? If the government can lock down, isolate, inject citizens over a 99.7% survivable virus what are you empowering the government to do when a pandemic like the 1918 virus with its 60% survival rate to do to us?
It's a divisive issue with strong feelings on both sides. I don't think promoting an unrealistic demand ( one that I can't decisively confirm elsewhere )is going to promote travel in Mexico.

[moisheh]

R. Elliot is in the minority not only here but in Mexico.
When cold and flu season arrives Mexicans mask up. Much like in Asian countries. Anti maskers is an American thing.

[rocmoc]

Come on Man! You haven't heard of breakthu cases. That topic is carried on Blue & Red News Channels. But if you want to take the time, Clinical Studies in USA, UK, Israel and France can be found easily on the internet. Get off TV and read Clinical Studies. Incredible amount of INFORMATION if one can READ!

Mask!! I/We ALWAYS wear double n95 (we are one of the few that have n100s when needed) to protect us and a side benefit is it protects others. I have a Degree in Engineering with background in Pneumatic Systems which include Aerosols and smaller particles. And MANY University Lab Test since the start of Covid have been run by different Engineering Departments verifying that Mask Work, N95 and greater. That is a FACT!

So the Mexico tie! Does anyone have info about long term Covid care in Mexico? We want to head South but may wait until Spring for all your feed back.

rocmoc Th SouthWest

[Wm_Elliot]

This forum is about camping in Mexico and South America. Reading through all your available posts it doesn't appear that you ever have posted a comment about Mexico let alone traveled in Mexico but you feel qualified to tell those of us who realize which forums we are in to "get educated"?

[Talleyho69]

We are similar to you in the large groups of people and trying to make intelligent decisions.

Hopefully you will continue to visit this great country, and others, and rent and explore.

Your thoughts and observations are appreciated.

[snowyball]

I am in the US and am not sure when I'll get back to Mexico. I am not an RVer. I joined this forum when I was contemplating buying a property in Mexico. That didn't work out and I decided it would be just as cost effective to rent when I was in Mexico. We did get about a month of "vaccinated people do not need to wear masks" here but then the Delta variant hit and since not enough people had gotten vaccinated at that point and everything had opened up, it changed the game back to square one pretty much. Our stats here in Oregon are bad but when you look at a county breakdown, the worst areas are in the rural part of the state with the Portland area having much lower incidence - presumably due to higher vaccination levels. Since I'm vaccinated I worry less about being out and about but still limit my activities - fortunately I was never one who enjoyed being in large crowds of people. I wear a mask anywhere I'm supposed to and sanitize my hands wherever sanitizer is made available. My sister has not stepped foot inside a store of any kind since the pandemic began.

[Lwiddis]

I don’t like masking but I do. Better safe than sorry even for someone like me with two Pfizer shots and the booster.

[Wm_Elliot]

Unfortunately masks, vaccinations, lock downs, and the various variants are politically charged and the news we hear is filtered and purposefully sculpted to fit a narrative.
I participate in another Mexico oriented forum (apolitical) where people post photos and discuss travel and life in Mexico. Mask usage in Mexico from what I can read and see is far from universal. I assume is it much like mask usage in Maine and most other states in the US.
90% of folks on this forum, regulars all, have predictable views on masks, vaccinations (which were promised to end mask requirements and the spread of the virus), and restrictions. That's unfortunate and it's not reflective of reality.
At some point a healthy caution became a neurosis. It's well past time to start questioning the news we hear.

[Talleyho69]

None necessary, you made great points and reiterated that mask wearing in Mexico, (and anywhere) doesn't hurt, and could help.

[snowyball]

Your mask doesn't protect you, it protects others from any germs you may be spreading, their masks protect you from any germs they may be spreading. Yes, they are imperfect but they are one of the best tools we have right now if everyone wears them when in close proximity to others and wears them correctly. I keep having to ask people I'm interacting with (especially men for some reason) to cover their nose. Why don't people understand how important it is to cover your nose? When you are tested, where do they take the sample from? Why do you think they do that - because that's where the virus is most likely to be.

My apologies to TalleyHo for continuing this topic.

[Talleyho69]

This wasn't intended to be a discussion on the effectiveness of masks or other methods of preventing the spread of covid, but an informative post about how masking is being handled in Mexico.

[pennysmom09]

The trouble with masks is they don’t work very well. They keep,out dust and many allergens, but virus bugs are small enough to go right through. So if you actually come in contact with a spreader, the simple cotton mask will not protect you.