LOS CABOS, Mexico _ Is this the time for a vacation in Baja?
Absolutely not, says California's governor, backed by legions of local and state health officials who discourage nonessential travel and are alarmed by the continued spread of COVID-19 on both sides of the border.
Yes, say scores of Mexican hoteliers and travel industry workers, desperate for income and eager to explain new safety measures.
Check with the U.S. government, and the answer depends on which agency you ask _ and whether you're driving or flying.
Meanwhile, scores of hotels in Baja California have opened in recent weeks, betting that thousands of Americans are ready to head south. Airlines are adding Baja flights too, even as Canada and much of Europe have banned U.S. tourists, and the U.S. has banned tourists from much of Europe.
Baja California Sur's governor, Carlos Mendoza Davis, said these reopening rules would stay in effect despite infection rates that have pushed the peninsula's southern half into the most severe category in the Mexican Ministry of Health's COVID-19 risk rankings.
Baja California Sur includes Los Cabos, La Paz, Loreto and the southern portion of the Baja peninsula. The northern portion of the peninsula is the state of Baja California, which includes Tijuana, Ensenada and Mexicali.
With infections and deaths rising fast in the U.S. and Mexico and a big chunk of the Baja peninsula's economy at stake, here are some questions and answers to consider.
