Mexico City Mayor Promises Financial Support as Lockdown Begins

By Neil P. First Posted: Dec 19, 2020 09:29 PM EST

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum promises that the government will provide financial support to businesses that will be affected by a three-week lockdown.

(Photo : Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
View of Corregidora street in Mexico City downtown, full of people shopping and walking in shops that did not respect the restrictive measures imposed yesterday by the city government.

The three-week lockdown in Mexico City will begin between Saturday until January 10. Nonessential economic activities and businesses will be suspended due to the increasing number of COVID-19 infections. But the government pledged financial support.

Mexico City Mayor pledged financial support

Mexico City will be in a three-week lockdown after the number of COVID-19 cases continues to increase. The surge of the virus is also expected in the upcoming holidays where more people will gather to celebrate Christmas with their families and friends.

Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum has foreseen that the three-week lockdown will affect different businesses most especially the nonessential businesses. Despite this, Mayor Sheinbaum said that the government will give financial support, according to a recently published article in Mexico News Daily.

In a video message on social media just hours after federal and state authorities announced that Mexico City and México state were regressing to maximum "risk" red on the federal government's coronavirus stoplight, she said, "There will be economic support for these difficult times that we will announce in the following days."

Mexico City officials expected that the financial wellbeing of a large number of people will be affected during the three-week lockdown as a wide range of businesses will be affected. Many of them have already struggled and will again enter another closure for the next 23 days.

Businesses that will be affected during the lockdown

The following are the businesses that will remain close beginning Saturday until Jan. 11:

All gyms, sports clubs, hair and beauty salons, shopping centers, cinemas, theaters, department stores, bars, nightclubs, and most retail stores.

Meanwhile, restaurants will be allowed to open only for delivery services while hotels in the city can operate at 30 percent capacity for the next three weeks.

Additionally, many of the street vendors or the informal economy workforce are among those who will be financially hit by the three-week lockdown. Typically, they experience an increase in their sales during the Christmas season but with the government's plea to stay-at-home, their income will be affected.

Businesses that are allowed to operate

On the other hand, the following essential businesses will be allowed to operate and will not be affected by a three-week lockdown:

Supermarkets, markets, pharmacies, post offices, bakeries, tortilla shops, small grocery stores, convenience stores, banks, laundromats, dry cleaners, healthcare services including Covid-19 testing stations, public transit, funeral parlors, moving services, and mechanical workshops.
The report also said that transportation, manufacturing, mining, construction, and telecommunications are also considered essential as are a range of government services related to security, water, and infrastructure.

Due to the three-week lockdown and restrictions, streets in the capital and surrounding México state metropolitan area are expected to be a lot quieter.

This will be a big blow for a lot of businesses that were hoping to recoup some of their 2020 losses but the government assures financial support amid these uncertain times.