Baja California makes its transition to yellow in Mexico’s COVID-19 traffic light monitoring system on Monday, where the vast majority of businesses will be allowed to open, including bars.
Bars are one of the most "punished" activities during the pandemic, according to the members of the sector such as Roberto Torres, owner of bar el Zorro on Avenida Revolución.
"It's been almost 12 months that we’ve been closed, and we're still blamed for the pandemic, but we're closed. I don't understand how we're responsible when we don't have people, we don't have income, we don't have openness," Torres said. Starting Monday, business owners will have the chance to reopen their doors and start-up business once again.
After the closing of clubs and bars, many had to look for other alternatives to survive, because, after the first wave of COVID-19, some were able to open again but the profits were not much. So, some workers changed jobs for security.
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"Unfortunately, one has to adapt to new things and that's why we are looking for a new trade," Ronald Salcido, a former employee of bar Latinos in Tijuana, told Telemundo 20, where dozens of families depend on the profits of this nightclub.
"We are 25 employees on the floor plus the showgirls and more. They depend on us to make a living," said Martha Contreras, manager of Bar Latinos.
Since Sunday, they have been preparing to gradually open and recover from the crisis caused by COVID-19.
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"It's going to be the first day of the reopening, excited we have to clean up so that the team comes to sanitize and that we have everything ready. People are very excited because we have an urgent need to work," Contreras said.
With being in the yellow traffic light, all bars in Baja California will be able to open with 50% capacity so operations by inspection and municipal verification will also be intensified to monitor compliance with all health protocols. They will be permanent operations especially on weekends in tourist areas such as Revolution Avenue, as stated by the director of Inspection and Municipal Verification, Cesar Heredia.
"We continue to operate and continue to sanction anyone who does not follow the health orders," Heredia said. "We will be permanently making rounds around here checking the capacity and supporting in any way we can."
Therefore, the owners and managers of these establishments will seek to follow each health order but also called for community support, because there are those who forget the protocol, the healthy distance and COVID-19.
"We all have to comply in the end to make it work so that you can see that we are trying to comply 100% of all the measures that have been imposed on us, but we ask the public to also comply," Contreras added.
