COVID-19 DECIMATES SPI HOTEL HELP, BEACHES STAY OPEN

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — West of the Queen Isabella Causeway people are waiting for 10 hours to get tested for COVID-19.

Funeral homes are turning away corpses because there is no room for more bodies in their facilities. Crematoriums are booked solid and relatives of the deceased wait for days before they can schedule the cremation of their loved ones.

Texas and Hidalgo County has become the national hot spots of the virus infection, earning the dubious distinction and attention of CNN coverage which showed mobile morgues parked outside hospitals to handle the overflow of corpses.

Cameron County, moving to prevent crowds that facilitate the transmission of the contagion, ordered its beaches on South Padre Island closed to the public. And cities across the Rio Grande Valley have instituted curfews, mandatory wearing of face masks, and stay at home and shelter in place orders as the number of positive cases soars and the bodies are starting to pile up in mobile morgues in hospital parking lots.

But in the city and the beaches within the boundaries of South Padre Island, the party goes on.

City officials, under pressure from hotel owners and tourist-oriented businesses, have stubbornly kept beaches within its jurisdiction open since Spring Break but are paying lip service to the precautions taken across the state and Rio Grande Valley. 

On Wednesday, they announced that this city’s beach accesses will remain open for beachgoers. During a meeting, the City of South Padre Island council voted to amend and extend the city’s beach operations emergency order to Aug. 5 at 11:59 p.m.

“It is the responsibility of every American to aid in the prevention of the spread of the virus,” the order piously states. “Our hope is that by imposing these measures quickly and firmly, we will help bring this national emergency to an end quickly and help revitalize the economy we all enjoy as soon as possible.”

And what are those "orders"? They deal with the prohibition of non-single pole shade structures and canopies and pop-up tents, beach chairs and social distance between structures.

For beach vendors, all secondary beach chairs and umbrellas must be stored at the dune line and setup on demand only. Chairs and umbrellas must be rented and occupied at the time of setup for the secondary rows.

According to the order, the mayor and the emergency management coordinator can close the beach at any time if social distancing is not followed.

But even with this published "order," there has yet to be a beach closed despite photographs showing  obvious violation of the rules. A violation of the order is a Class C Misdemeanor punishable by a fine not to exceed $500. That hasn't
happened.

Funny how there is no mention of a report that appeared in SOMOS Channel 5 by reporter Enrique Lerma which revealed that hotels on the island – some of them booked solid for the summer months inn advance for this summer – are losing their personnel to COVID-19 infection and that at least one has closed for the year because people are afraid to work there.

At the Peninsula, the sign-in employee worksheet shows the impact of the virus on the hotel maintenance staff with yellow highlighter showing the people who did not show up for work. The picture is the same in other hotels on the island, but owners a re tight-lipped about the hazards facing vacationers.

Do the vacationers know about the sick help and potentially contaminated facilities?


And if you see the full Murphy party boat that docks on the Port Isabel side of the Laguna Madre, you would think that the COVID-19 was oceans and continents away.

The boat, filled to overflowing, carries partygoers without any face coverings, crowded and ignoring any semblance of social distance for two hours before being dropped off on the dock and then go their merry way into the cities and communities of the Rio Grande Valley.

But if you listen to the SPI hoteliers and businessmen and their puppets on the city council, you will hear this:

“The Island is a popular place to visit and the public should be mindful that the COVID-19 virus is still impacting the Rio Grande Valley,” a post from the City of South Padre Island Facebook page states.

“While on the beach, everyone should follow protocols to prevent further spread of this virus.”