Mandatory Stay Home, Phase 2 – Sonora
Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Mandatory Stay Home, Phase 2 was approved to reduce people on the street by 85%.
- People will be able to leave their homes only if they fall under one of 6 scenarios.
- Only one person will be allowed per private vehicle on the street.
To mitigate the massive spread of Covid-19, whose mortality rate in Sonora has been shown to be well above the national and global average, “Mandatory Stay Home, Phase 2” has been approved. This program was approved by: the State Health Council; the Secretary of National Defense and Navy and Mayors of cities that make up 90% of the population in Sonora. “Mandatory Stay Home, Phase 2” will begin Monday 13 and run until April 30.
Mandatory Stay Home, Phase 2 establishes that there are only 6 approved causes to be outside of your home and in public. Additionally, only one person per private vehicle will be allowed during this critical phase of the pandemic.
After receiving the proposal made by a dozen municipalities to reduce vehicle quantities on the streets, the State Health Council initiated a session to agree on the goal of reducing the presence of people in public spaces by 85%. They also agreed on activating permanent dissuasive and coercive actions, if necessary, with the help of Local and State Police for Public Security, as well as the armed forces.
In order to contain the number of infections and deaths that this pandemic is causing. So far, Sonora has a mortality rate of 14%, almost three times as much as the national and world average.
At the opening of the session, the Secretary of Health Enrique Clausen Iberri explained that Sonora is one of the states with the highest mortality rates from Covid-19 and lacks sufficient space and equipment to attend the number of patients that may require them at the same time. The equipment would include a hospital bed or an artificial respirator, as well as medical staff, which is why it is necessary to immediately establish stricter actions to get people to stay home.
“We have substantial data that the Stay Home strategy has managed to only reduce the presence of people in the streets and public spaces by 45% when we actually need to reduce it by 85% for social distancing and home protection to be effective”, Clausen said. Clausen also specified that there is scientifically proven data that establishes that for a vaccine to have an effect in a community, it must be applied to at least 85% of the population, otherwise it will not be effective.
Based on this, the Council outlined the list of approved scenarios to be away from home, in such a way that with the Stay Home Mandatory Phase 2 measure, the local authorities and, where appropriate, the State police authorities of Public Security will have the power to monitor that citizens only leave their homes to carry out the following essential activities:
- Acquisition of food, pharmaceuticals and basic necessities
- Commute to health centers, hospitals or establishments with essential activities.
- Commute to their place of business to carry out their work, only when it is classified as an essential activity
- Return to their residence
- Assistance and care for the elderly, dependent minors, people with disabilities or especially vulnerable
- Commute to financial entities (banks)
In order to guarantee that people only leave home during this contingency for these essential activities, sanctions were also agreed for the use of private vehicles when more than one person is on board and when pedestrians move in groups.
With the establishment of “Mandatory Stay Home, Phase 2”, authorities are empowered to apply administrative sanctions.
According to this decree, the sanctions may be a warning, a fine, an arrest or even the use of public force to transfer people to their home, including delivering those who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and are caught disobeying the quarantine decree.
These measures are applicable state-wide.
For more information please visit the Sonora State Government Website.
