Mexico, Feb 14 (EFE) .- Mexican couples lived this Sunday a different Valentine’s Day marked by face masks, with a good part of the activities restricted to stop the contagion of covid-19 and restaurants with limited hours and capacity in good part of the country.
“It has been quite a complicated February 14, different. We are used to a different reality. A year ago we were walking downtown, having a good time, everything was open,” Javier, a lawyer who took advantage of this day to give a back with his girlfriend, Marisol.
Despite the pandemic, Javier considered that what is truly “important” is being able to be “with the person you love.”
Beside him, Marisol, who works as a teacher and carried flowers and a stuffed animal, said that she misses being able to give hugs and kisses, but said that “the most valuable thing is to be well and have the whole family.”
“There are many people who cannot, who are in hospitals and I think it has to be valued,” he reflected.
With 1.99 million infections and 173,000 deaths, Mexico ranks third in the world with the most deaths from the pandemic, behind the United States and Brazil, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Following a decrease in the number of hospitalized in Mexico City, where 70% of the beds are occupied, the capital announced on Friday the passage from the red traffic light (maximum risk of contagion) to the orange traffic light (high risk).
That implied the extension of restaurant hours, which can operate on outdoor terraces until 10 p.m., and the reopening of gyms and churches with limitations.
However, the operation of casinos, cinemas, schools, museums, bars, discos, offices, mass shows, sporting events and amusement parks is still prohibited.
Luis Alberto, who went out this Sunday to walk through the Coyoacán neighborhood, in the south of the city, said that “undoubtedly the pandemic has affected” the way of relating.
This doctor, who maintains a long-distance relationship with his partner, explained that “relationships are modified thanks to social networks.”
Mexico received 870,000 vaccines from AstraZeneca this Sunday from India that will allow the 15 million adults over 60 years of age to begin vaccinating on Monday.
With these vaccines, the vaccination plan that had been stalled for three weeks due to delays in shipments will be resumed.
The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, thanked the Indian ambassador to Mexico, Mampreet Vohra, for the “solidarity” of his country in allowing the shipment of vaccines even though India, with 10.9 million infections, also needs them .
The ambassador responded that it is “a very special gift” on Valentine’s Day. EFE
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