Safely reopening the economy in San Felipe

SAN FELIPE, B.C. (KYMA, KECY)-It's been four months since the pandemic has stopped tourism in the port of San Felipe.

Last weekend, several businesses reactivated the economy after the municipal government gave entry to local tourism but with restrictions.

Tourism in San Felipe has adapted to the new normal.

People are no longer able to walk along the boardwalk on the beach. There's no vehicle access and motorcycles are prohibited in the tourist area. The police are making sure everyone follows the rules, as they keep protecting the area 24/7.

Hotels and restaurants have installed their safety and hygiene protocols such as taking temperatures, sanitizing people, the use of cutlery and disposable plates, and the suspension of the cleaning service in the hotel rooms during the travelers' stay. Hotels must meet the 30 percent capacity limit.

With the new restrictions along the boardwalk, it has caused the start of the economic activity of sellers to be much slower.

Hotels have to make sure measurements are taken without the support of any authority of the municipal or state government.

Social leader Sunshine Rodriguez says the municipal government intends to reactivate the port's economy only with local tourism and the conditions it has put in place to authorize the reopening of the hotels.

Rodriguez says since the pandemic began, there has been no support for the San Felipe community, much less for the business sector that has had to survive from the economic crisis that the pandemic has caused in these last four months.