As Easter Week began last weekend, state health authorities and the Jalisco Traffic Department installed “filters” (screening points) to check passengers in vehicles leaving Guadalajara, as well as at the entrance to Chapala.
Vehicles were stopped to check on travelers’ health, test for DUIs, as well to ask questions about the reason for travel. Beach resorts customarily fill up during Semana Santa but authorities in Jalisco, Colima and Nayarit have closed down all holiday activity at the coast, and are warning away vacationers.
Both the state and federal governments have told Mexicans to stay at home over the holidays to contain the spread of Covid-19. Nonetheless, the long lines leaving the city early this week suggested many people were not heeding their message. The four metro-area filters set up throughout the two-week holiday period are at the Carretera a Morelia (Plazas Outlet), Autopista a Zapotlanejo (Caseta La Joya), Carretera a Chapala (Gasolinera Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos) and Carretera a Nogales (Venta del Astillero).