Demand Increasing for Free Covid-19 Testing in the Riviera Maya

According to the Director of Health, only people with symptoms are being tested.

Due to the fact that regular COVID-19 testing or vaccination is now a requirement for work, travel and entering certain businesses, the demand for the free tests has increased, according to health authorities in the Riviera Maya.

At the testing modules, long lines being to form very early in the morning.

Héctor González Rodríguez, director of Health for the Municipality of Solidaridad, explained that recently they have been performing around 600 tests per week. A few months ago they were performing about 250 per week.

He clarified that because they only perform tests of suspected cases, that is, those who are possibly carriers of COVID-19, the test results are not a true barometer of the general population.

“We do it according to the operational definition of the case. If someone arrives without symptoms we do not test. That is why our percentage of positives is more than 30 percent. In some weeks we have reached more than 40 percent, but it is an internal percentage, not a statistic at municipal level, that is very important”, said the official.

Salvador Varilla Hernández, Health Director for the Municipality of Tulum, pointed out that the number of people coming to ask for the COVID-19 rapid test has also increased.

He explained that the last session for the application of free rapid antigen tests was between July 13 and 23. This was days before the announcement that testing would be mandatory. He estimates that the next program will run out of tests ahead of time.

The increase of COVID-19 cases in tourist destinations throughout Quintana Roo has forced the state government to implement more severe measures to try to stop outbreaks.

The third wave of infections has arrived and is primarily affecting young people, according to information from the state Health Department.

Source: La Jornada Maya