Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — More than 1,400 people were removed from Playa del Carmen beaches over the weekend by authorities who have begun to crack down on beachgoers due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The director of Solidaridad Civil Protection Emmanuel Hedding Medina, says the agency removed over 1,400 people from public Playa del Carmen beaches this past weekend. He says personnel scanned beaches from Xcalacoco to Playacar, asking those sunbathing and swimming to return home. He says beaches were busy despite the current restrictions in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We managed to withdraw about 350 people from the Punta Esmeralda beach, in the central beach … about 800 people and in Xcalacoco, about 300 people,” he said adding that “accumulation is the greatest risk.”
Hedding said that to continue ensuring people do not enter the beach areas, they are supporting other agencies such as Public Security, the National Guard, the Directorate of the Federal Terrestrial Maritime Zone (Zofemat) and the Navy so that in the future, there are no more mass removals.
“What we are trying to avoid is the concentration of people. We have several red areas that are being monitored…we are recommending that people leave the beach areas in a civilized way to avoid more rigorous measures later,” he noted adding that up until now, it has not been necessary to use public force to ask people to withdraw from the beach.
Hedding Medina says the situation with people heading to the beaches is due to the lack of awareness in a good portion of the population, despite the fact that the epidemic is still active.
