The order described below is a follow-up to the order published on April 21, 2020 (the “Order”), that extended the immediate suspension of all non-essential activities in the public, private, and social sectors until May 30, 2020. (Our alert on the Order can be found here).

The Order established that the extraordinary measures, including the suspension of non-essential activities, would cease to be implemented as of May 18, 2020 in those municipalities within national territory that on that date have low or no transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

On May 14, 2020, the Secretary of Health published an order establishing the strategy for the reopening and return to social, educational, and economic activities, and including additional industries to those considered essential (the “Reopening Order”), as follows:

• Stage 1: From May 18, 2020, those municipalities where there have been no cases of COVID-19 and which do not border municipalities with cases of such virus, may return to their activities. A list of those municipalities will be provided on the Secretary of Health’s web page no later than May 17, 2020.

• Stage 2: In the period between May 18 and May 31, 2020, the Secretary of Health will develop health protocols for the safe resumption of activities, the training of personnel for safety in the work environment, the readjustment or redesign of spaces, and the installation of entry filters, among other measures.

• Stage 3: From June 1, 2020, the return to activities will be established by each region using the streetlight system, which will be published with the following options:

• Green: Return to all activities without restriction.
• Yellow: Return to all work activities (but the suspension will continue for school activities) and, with certain capacity restrictions, activities in public spaces.
• Orange: Essential work activities will continue in normal fashion and non-essential activities may be conducted, but with reduced capacity. The suspension on school activities and restrictions on open spaces will be maintained.
• Red: All activities will remain suspended except for essential activities.

The Reopening Order provides that the construction, mining, and fabrication of transportation equipment industries will be deemed essential activities. These industries may resume work on June 1, 2020. For the period between May 18 and June 1, 2020, these industries must implement health safety guidelines, which will be published soon.

The Reopening Order went into effect on May 14, 2020 and will remain in effect until the health emergency is declared terminated.

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of the lawyers listed below.

To view this article en español, click here.