What are Mexico’s COVID-19 travel protocols?

As Mexico slowly resumes its touristic activities, the ministries of tourism and health released an official document with Mexico’s COVID-19 travel protocols. We read all 130 pages and selected the most important points for you, our fellow travelers!

If you are traveling to Mexico over the next few months, these are some new rules and paperwork you need to be aware of:

Remember that these protocols can change depending on each state’s outbreak status. Mexico City, for example, has postponed the re-opening of malls, while other states haven’t.

UPDATE: many states in Mexico, like Baja California Sur, Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, and Nayarit have now opened their borders to all visitors, without any testing or quarantine measures. Archaeological sites and museums remain closed.

Mexico’s COVID-19 travel protocols

Airport

1. The use of a face mask is mandatory.
2. You’ll need to fill out this ‘Questionnaire of Identification of Risk Factors in Travelers’, which asks about recent trips and if you’ve been in contact with someone with Covid-19.
3. Doing your check-in through the airline’s App or Website is recommended, but kiosks and counters will still open and sanitized constantly.
4. If you have any flu-like symptoms, the airport medical staff will give you a quick health exam and will determine if you can continue your journey.
5. Boarding will take a little bit longer, because it will be done in groups of ten people, at a time. Consider it when booking connection flights with different airlines.
6. At the gate, you’ll be asked to hold up your passport and scan your boarding pass.

Note: each airline is implementing its own set of protocols. Some have 3 checkpoints, where they take your temperature, give you hand sanitizer and ask you to clean your shoes in a special mat; others, don’t have any protocols at all. So, carry your hand sanitizer, keep your distance, and ask others to keep theirs.

During the flight

1. Don’t freak out when at 10,000 feet the flight attendants pull out aerosols and mist the entire plane. It’s a disinfectant solution (alcohol & water).
2. If you present any flu-like symptom during the flight, the crew will implement international protocols: they’ll give you a quick health check, a new seat, a new mask, they’ll designate a restroom exclusively for you, and they’ll report your case to the airport, so medical staff can give you a proper exam upon landing.

Cruises

1. No passenger or staff will be able to board the ship if they traveled from or transited through Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Europe (except the UK), Iran or South Korea 15 days before boarding. Re-check this information with your cruise, just to be sure.

Hotels & restaurants

1. You’ll have to clean your shoe soles when you go in and out of the building. They’ll have special mats with a disinfectant solution.
2. Menus will also be available in digital form through QR code.
3. In restaurants, the maximum capacity will be ten per table. And some of them will only operate under reservation.

Museums

1. Your temperature will be taken at the entrance, and you’ll be offered hand sanitizer.
2. Follow the signs or stamps on the floor to maintain the 1.5-2m distance requirement.

Beaches

1. There will be stations with hand sanitizer and containers to throw disposable face masks. Please, please, be mindful of this, as we don’t need extra polluted oceans on top of everything else.
2. Chaise lounges and chairs will be placed 2 meters apart from each other.
3. Some beach clubs will lower their capacity to 50%.
4. Voleibol, football, or other group activities/sports will not be allowed.

Note to travelers: hotels will want you to feel welcomed and safe, so they probably won’t enforce the use of face masks. And they’re uncomfortable, we know, but think about the hotel staff and other travelers. Now, more than ever, we need to take care of each other.

*Mexico’s COVID-19 travel protocols were taken from the official document presented by Mexico’s Tourism & Health Ministries. You can review the original publication here.