EL PASO, Texas _ The world's busiest border region came to a giant crawl early Saturday, leaving millions of people with family and work ties on both sides in limbo.
Here along the usually bustling South El Paso Street, butting up against Ciudad Juarez and the Paso del Norte international bridge, the area was eerily quiet. Activity came to a sudden halt after the border was closed to "nonessential" traffic at 12:01 a.m. Saturday.
Merchants and shoppers said they are dreading Monday, when locals expect to see and feel the full magnitude of what the new, restrictive border measures will mean going forward.
The U.S. and Mexico agreed to restrict all nonessential travel across their shared border in an effort to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The travel restrictions will not impede lawful trade and commerce _ everything from food and fuel to healthcare and medicine.
Additionally, authorities claim U.S. citizens and permanent residents who cross the border for work, medical appointments or to pursue education will not be impacted as long as they have the proper authorization.
The measures will be in place for at least 30 days, according to a joint statement by the U.S. and Mexico.
Olivia Medina, 48, and a permanent resident of the U.S., waited on South El Paso Street on Saturday morning, looking for a friend who had agreed to take some items, including medicine, to her ailing mother on the Juarez side of the border.
She didn't want to try to enter to Mexico because she wasn't sure what the new rules, beginning with "essential," mean. She didn't want to find out.
"I don't trust anyone," she explained. "Everyday there are new guidelines. I don't want to be stuck in Juarez because my kids are here and they need me."
In Juarez, people have only recently begun to take the rapid spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 seriously. Just days ago coronavirus seemed like a world away. Now it has begun popping up on both sides of the border, raising tensions that have grown throughout both cities.
At supermarkets, activity seemed normal as shoppers calmly bought groceries. But more people are seen sporting masks or latex gloves and buying larger amounts of products. Everyone flinches when someone coughs.
Without much guidance from local, state and federal government, local businesses have taken it upon themselves to close indefinitely, saying they want to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Juarez Mayor Armando Cabada called for reductions at local restaurants and bars _ albeit a fraction of the measures neighboring Texas and New Mexico are doing.
Capacity will be reduced to 50%, and groups limited to no more than 100. Mass will also be put off indefinitely.
"The times we're living in are not vacations, but a time of self-isolation in which we will avoid generating peaks of contagion," Cabada said during a news conference.
Asked whether Mexico was doing enough, Medina said, "Mexico is irresponsible. We have to act as one community because we are."
