This week, the United States raised travel advisories for more than 100 countries around the world to its highest level citing the risks of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. But Mexican officials say they’re worried that the new warning will be harmful to the economy.
Mexico’s tourism secretary released a statement Thursday expressing concern over the U.S. State Department’s decision to raise its travel advisory for countries including Mexico to a level 4, do not travel.
“The Mexican government expresses it’s worries regarding the alert by U.S. authorities not to visit the the country,” the statement reads. “Said action will have bilateral repercussions on the reactivation of tourism and connectivity in North America.”
The statement cites close ties between the two countries, and the possibility that the warning could damage efforts to reactivate the economy and the tourism sector. It also says Mexico is pushing global solutions, including the sharing of vaccines, to address the ongoing pandemic.
“Mexico has emphasized the need for equitable and collective responses, since there cannot be global solutions if some countries lag behind,” the statement said.
This week Mexico also announced that it would begin to lift restrictions on non-essential travel from the United States in five of its six northern border states. The United States, however, has re-upped its border travel restrictions through late May.
The CDC, which has its own travel advisory system, also issued a “do not travel” warning for Mexico and other countries last November because of the pandemic.
Before the change this week, the State Department travel advisory for Mexico was a level 3, which means reconsider travel.
Originally Appeared On: https://fronterasdesk.org/content/1677345/mexican-officials-worried-about-us-travel-advisories