TIJUANA (Border Report) — Baja California’s Gov. Jaime Bonilla is asking residents to avoid their moms on Mother’s Day.
Bonilla is making the plea as a way to avoid further spread of COVID-19.
“If we love our mamacita, there’s no need to go give her a hug this May 10, just send one,” Bonilla said. “It’s not time to go see our mothers.”
The same applies to mothers buried throughout the state according to the governor and the state’s health secretary. They are asking people to stay away from cemeteries as much as possible over the holiday.
In Tijuana, all private graveyards have indicated they will close, but public burial grounds will operate with restrictions.
Health personnel will be posted at all entrances to cemeteries dispensing sanitizer and taking temperatures. They are discouraging any visits by children and people over 65 years of age.
“Let’s be prudent and really limit concentrations of people at these cemeteries to minimize the risk of getting infected, especially now as we’re trying to flatten the curve as we’ve reached a very critical point in this crisis,” said Alonso Perez, Baja’s health secretary. “Let’s just stay home.”
According to Perez’s office, Tijuana has 1,136 positive COVID-19 cases with 226 deaths attributed to the virus.
Similar warnings are also in place north of the border in cities like Laredo, Texas, where officials are asking people to be extra careful over the Mother’s Day weekend.
“This Mother’s Day, please minimize the risk to your loved ones by not going to other peoples’ households and exposing them to that interaction that may or may not expose them to COVID-19,” Laredo police investigator Jose Baeza Jr. said. “In addition to those visits to Mom, if you are going to the local cemeteries, there will be certain guidelines that weren’t there last year. We fully respect the honoring of our loved ones that have passed, especially on Mother’s Day, but because of this situation we respectfully ask that you wear masks and avoid close contact and there will be law enforcement at both cemeteries moving things along and making sure that everyone is safe.”
While Mother’s Day always lands on the second Sunday in May in the U.S., Mexico’s Mother’s Day is always on May 10. Every once in a while, they land on the same day, as is the case this year.