Cancun, Q.R. — “There are only three documented cases and there are no infections in the hotel where they stayed,” reported governor Carlos Joaquin regarding allegations of covid-infected students.
His remarks come after allegations of more than 30 Puebla students becoming infected with Covid after celebrating their graduation in Cancun earlier this month. He says only three students tested positive for covid, adding that Quintana Roo is still a safe destination for vacations.
A group of more than 500 students from the Oriente Institute of Puebla celebrated their graduation with a trip to Cancun from June 26 to July 1. According to José Antonio Martínez García, Secretary of Health of Puebla, more than 30 students who made the graduation trip have been ill with COVID-19.
“There were around 500 students and when they returned, we began to detect positive cases, so far there are more than 30 positive cases, so epidemiological surveillance of the state government has already initiated the identification and contact action,” said the official who also added that “there is a young woman who had pneumonia.”
Videos of the celebration posted on social media show hundreds of party goers inside a club, none of whom appear to be taking the necessary health precautions into account.
The trip was reportedly organized by an agency at a cost of 22,000 peso per student. According to the agency, all travelers were asked for a negative COVID PCR or antigen printed test prior to boarding the plane.
Despite this initial precaution, upon return, some students presented flu or cold symptoms, which was when the governor of Puebla, Miguel Barbosa Huerta, spoke of a massive contagion.
The Puebla students who traveled to Cancun also lived with students from different schools in cities such as Monterrey, Chihuahua, San Luis Potosí, as well as Bolivia, Peru and Colombia.
Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquin has since said that there were no infections detected in the hotel where the students stayed.
The Quintana Roo State Secretary of Health, Alejandra Aguirre Crespo, said that they work hard to maintain visitor control in attending to health habits to avoid the risk of contagion.
She said that from the moment they became aware of the student cases, she made contact with Puebla health authorities to start the corresponding protocols and determine the exact number of infected young people, which has been three.