Some social events will be reactivated in Yucatan in March.
MERIDA Yucatan (Times Media Mexico) – María Fritz Sierra met with representatives of the catering sector, with whom she agreed to take the first step to carry out the gradual and safe reopening of social events in the state as of March 1 and to continue meeting permanently to follow up on the development of the pandemic.
Meetings in haciendas, hotels, and event halls
After listening and dialoguing with businessmen of the sector, the head of the SGG informed that as of March 1, haciendas, hotels, event halls, and similar may hold meetings, using up to 30% of the capacity of the place, for work, business and convention purposes. For the time being, they may not hold social events that imply the celebration of weddings, baptisms, quinceañera parties, or any other similar celebration.
Within this framework, the state authorities and representatives of the sector established three main agreements that will take effect on the date mentioned earlier to promote a safe economic reactivation that will contribute to continuing protecting the health of Yucatecans.
No weddings, baptisms, and quinceañera parties are allowed.
It is important to remember that, at this stage, we are looking for the gradual reactivation of the sector in a safe way and accordance with the status of the epidemiological indicators of the state. Therefore, for the moment, weddings, baptisms, quinceañera parties, massive training events, and any type of social event different from those previously mentioned that may put Yucatecans’ health at risk will not be allowed.
Work-related events with 30% capacity.
Haciendas, hotels, event halls, and similar will be allowed to hold meetings for work purposes, business, conventions, among others, that do not imply the celebration of weddings, baptisms, XV years, or similar celebrations. They may only use up to 30% of the capacity of the place.
Registration of events
Organizers and venues will be required to register their event through the website activation.yucatan.gob.mx. They must also make a verification request to the Yucatan Health Secretariat (SSY), which will be carried out at the window located at the same agency’s central offices.
No alcohol and other restrictions
The congresses or business meetings must follow the protocols established in the website reactivación.yucatan.gob.mx, among which are a stay of no more than 4 hours per event, alcohol sale is not allowed, and the spaces may operate at 30% of their capacity.
These venues may temporarily operate as restaurants in compliance with the respective health protocols.
A temporary license for the sale of food will be granted.
For haciendas, event halls, or similar venues to operate as restaurants, the SSY will provide, upon request, the temporary license for the sale of food and beverages issued by the Dirección de Riesgos Sanitarios. In this case, the venues and catering companies will operate under the restaurant sector’s protocols.
Accompanied by the head of the Technical Secretariat of Planning and Evaluation (Seplan), Rafael Hernández Kotasek, Fritz Sierra pointed out that the State Government is aware of the economic needs caused by the pandemic. Still, at this time, the priority is to take care of each other and avoid the risks of contagion by the Coronavirus to continue with the safe economic reactivation.
“In Yucatan, the priority is to preserve the health of the people and to continue advancing in the economic reopening we need to take care of ourselves and take good care of ourselves, to act responsibly, because if the hospital capacity is put at risk, we would have to go backward, affecting more economic sectors of the state,” emphasized the state official.
In this context, the head of the SGG reminded that the preventive measures, protocols, and sanitary provisions in force established by the authorities and public health experts are to provide greater protection to the health of the population, so she urged them to continue acting responsibly in the face of this public health challenge.
For their part, the industry representatives present at the meeting committed to strictly complying with the established protocols to avoid a further increase in the number of contagions in Yucatan, which would halt the state’s economic reopening affecting the jobs of Yucatecans.
It is worth mentioning that this reopening, scheduled for March 1, is the first step on the road to the next reactivation of other activities in the social events sector. The State Government reiterates its willingness to dialogue with the different sector members and, with this, to work together on proposals that contribute to the gradual and safe economic reopening of the sector when health conditions allow it.
