New Years on the coast. Rain, thousands of tourists and record of infections in Mar del Plata

The highest influx of tourists and the record of new positives of coronavirus on the coast were crossed just in these New Year holidays, which with its meetings and celebrations still promise a start to January with greater complications in the rhythm of contagions, which worries about volume, but still maintains tranquility among the health authorities because it did not alter the demand for hospitalizations.

And on top of that, rain. 2022 started between repeated showers, ideal to continue at home after nights that returned images of a certain normality to dinners and celebrations, both in private homes and in restaurants, hotels and inns, which after two years had full tables again , as in old pre-pandemic times.

It was not until late in the afternoon, between dark clouds and threats of more showers, the sun made a small place from time to time and encouraged tourists to step on the sand long after lunch.

The panorama was almost a copy in all the resorts of the Atlantic coast, which had been prepared for this weekend as a trigger for a high and sustained tourist influx at least until the end of this month, in several towns with almost complete occupation. Much better conditions presented this first morning, with electronic parties on crowded beaches and clubs. From those elbow to elbow dances this pandemic feeds.

Reservation cancellations

The novelty of the last hours were the first cancellations of reservations that had been taken well in advance. The operators confirm that some customers give up because they are infected, have relatives affected by Covid-19 and must isolate themselves or, in the face of a scenario that was complicated by a very high circulation of the virus throughout the country, they resolved to take a break and wait for better moments in a summer that is just beginning. At the same time other orders arrive that cover those places. “There is no alarm because the occupation, at least for now, does not suffer,” sources from the hotel sector assured

Mar del Plata is the sample of the extreme that is traveled . In the last hours of 2021, the municipality confirmed 1042 new positives for coronavirus, more than double the daily maximum that had been registered during the first year and a half of the pandemic and 45 times more than the infections confirmed on the first day of December that left. . When it was believed that everything had passed, what was once a wave suddenly became a tsunami. Which is also alive and does not stop growing.

“We came early today [for yesterday] because we knew it would be quieter because everyone rests and the young people sleep,” said Elías, from the Federal Capital, who has been here with his family for five days and was waiting for a swab at the Centro de Outpatient Medical Specialties (CEMA), after recent contact with local relatives who tested positive. “The idea is to confirm or rule out so as not to affect anyone else,” he explained.

Testing has been almost a national sport for days. Here alone there are nine public centers. In Playa Grande, for example, there was up to 600 meters of queue and four hours of waiting. There were private laboratories that, at a cost of almost $ 3,000, ran out of tests in the face of an unprecedented demand and a peak positivity rate: almost 50% of those who faced the discomfort of the swab in the nose and / or throat had Covid-19.