Now that the Jalisco government has mandated compulsory use of face masks for all persons in the public sphere, lakeside residents having reason to leave their homes may be scrambling to supply themselves with cubrebocas (mouth covers).

“Attention. We are in a national health emergency due to the coronavirus.

The Chapala government has recorded an English-language message that is now blaring out from the loudspeakers of “sound trucks” roaming the municipality to advise residents to stay off the streets and wear face masks during the Covid-19 contingency.

Chapala authorities have turned away thousands of seasonal visitors at roadside checkpoints set up at entry points to the municipality since the first of this month as a measure to help prevent the spread of the Covid-19 virus in the community.

With two potential Covid-19 cases discarded so far by state health authorities, Chapala officially remains free of the disease.

The Chapala government won’t be sending out paddy wagons to round up rogue residents who balk at the compulsory Covid-19 prevention measures that took effect Monday, April 20, by state mandate.