Despite the closure of beaches and recreational centers ordered by the authorities, on the beaches of Puerto Vallarta you can still see tourists sunbathing like in any holiday season.
Reporter Doraliz Terrón reported this situation in a live broadcast when she was assaulted by a man in his 50s.
“You can’t film us. You need our permission. And we don’t give you permission. Get out of here!” Says a man, as he slaps the reporter’s hands to try to take away the phone she was using to make the recording.
After jerking, when the picture in the picture points back to where the tourists were, another man can be seen as he makes offenses to the reporter for the digital media Parallel Informational.
It should be noted that beaches in Mexico are public federal property where permission is not needed to take photos or videos of people in public space.
After the incident, the reporter points out: “These are the tourists who come to Puerto Vallarta and do not understand that there is a coronavirus contingency,” was what she managed to say as she left the site to search for authorities to report the attack.
The two gentlemen have been identified by locals as Terry Redue and Guy Carey from Vancouver, B.C.
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Prior to the attack, Doraliz Terrón spoke with a Civil Protection lifeguard agent who was doing the work of recommending people to leave the beach area, but also clarified that the order cannot be enforced, but they are only encouraging people to stay away.
In a post-assault video, the reporter explained that although restaurants in Puerto Vallarta are allowed to continue providing the service in their facilities with all the necessary health measures, it is not allowed to use palapas and tables in the sand as a recreational activity.
“The man who physically assaulted me, tried to remove the phone, pushed me, is still free and enjoying his vacation … and there is no authority that is going to do anything about the assault, not even to present it to the municipal police so that he can issue his statement. He is a tourist and in a day or two he leaves and there is no care that he assaulted a Mexican citizen, a woman, while visiting the country,# said the communicator who admitted feeling shocked and very upset.
As of today Puerto Vallarta registers four confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus and two deaths from the disease. It’s expected that the cases are well above what is being reported in Puerto Vallarta, which is now reporting a 50% mortality rate in COVID-19 patients.
At the state level, 126 positive cases are counted in Jalisco and seven deaths, those numbers are also in doubt because of such low levels of testing in the country.
