Mexico Closes Chichén Itzá Over Masks-Less Tourists

Mexican authorities warned on Friday that tourists in the Yucatan Peninsula refuse to wear face masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This as the region prepares for a surge of visitors in the coming weeks.

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According to the acting police chief of Quintana Roo Lucio Hernández Gutiérrez tourists are the most undisciplined individuals. "It was truly frustrating to see hundreds of people walking around without face masks," he explained. Every day several patrols have to remind travelers to wear face masks to stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quintana Roo and Yucatan states, forming the Yucatan peninsula.

The situation forced Federal authorities to close the Chichén Itzá Maya ruin site from April 1 to 4, one of the most popular places in the peninsula, which usually received about 1.8 million visitors per year.

Although the vaccination campaign already started, the country faces an alarming surge of infections. On Friday, the government reported over 5000 confirmed cases in the last 24 hours, and it topped 200,000 deaths since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.