Social-distancing on the beach is not anything to complain about, as one might imagine. With my feet in the sand and a book in my hand, I never would have known the rest of the world was in chaos.

I recently returned from a trip to San José del Cabo, Mexico. My family and I followed the news the entire trip, but Mexico was nothing like news sources described the United States. The afternoon we arrived was what one might call the inflection point in the U.S. The NBA season was suspended that night after test results for Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert were reported positive. Around the same time, the NCAA announced that it would not allow fans to attend March Madness games and later said that the games would be altogether canceled. Then, the President reported that all travel to the European Union would be suspended. 

Google “Mexico COVID-19 cases” or something similar. You might find an article about New Mexico. Hardly any articles, however, are circulating about the actual country in regards to the virus.

While all hell broke loose in the states, Mexico remained chill. Not in a good way, though. We have friends who live in San José del Cabo; they said doctors are being told not to test people. They had a friend who thought she might have the virus, but doctors wouldn’t test her because she hadn’t been to Asia. 

Health authorities in Mexico reported 405 cases at the time this article was written, according to Worldometer. However, this seems improbable for a country with a population density of approximately 172 people per square mile. Comparatively, the United States has a population density 94 people per square mile, but we have 185 times more cases than they do. 

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While shopping at Costco for groceries, there were several obvious signs of a global pandemic: all employees wore masks and gloves, there was hand sanitizer available throughout the store and carts were all wiped by employees upon arrival.

— Ben Whitlock, Prowl reporter

The atmosphere did not feel much different than any other vacation I have had in Cabo. However, while shopping at Costco for groceries, there were several obvious signs of a global pandemic: all employees wore masks and gloves, there was hand sanitizer available throughout the store and carts were all wiped by employees upon arrival. 

My grandpa was supposed to meet us there a few days after we arrived, but he opted to stay home amid all the chaos. This was probably the most notable effect COVID-19 had on our trip. Either that or changing flights. We were supposed to fly to San Jose, CA, and then on to Seattle where we would connect to Billings, Mont.. However, as Seattle was the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak at that point, we decided to change our flight to just one layover in Salt Lake City. 

Traveling home was much different than traveling down. On the trip down, the majority of the masks we saw were worn by employees in the San José del Cabo airport and the odd passenger. On the way back, however, the airports were full of masks. This was slightly bothersome because of the shortage of masks for nurses and doctors, but I understand many were acting and continue to act out of fear. 

The flight attendants wore masks and gloves and everyone was sanitizing their area with Clorox wipes. We did this roundtrip, but it felt much more necessary traveling home. When we arrived in Salt Lake, the baggage claim was a mess; many LDS missionaries had been brought home and there were at least 200 of them sorting through the suitcases looking for their own. But, when we arrived at our terminal, it was dead. 

There were maybe 50 people throughout the whole terminal. Every other table was blocked off in the restaurants in an effort to promote social distancing. 

Salt Lake City had experienced a 5.7 magnitude earthquake five days before and had been experiencing aftershocks. There had been a small 2.8 magnitude tremor the morning we flew through, but as we were eating dinner there was a 4.1 magnitude earthquake. Having never experienced an earthquake before, I had no idea what to do. It only lasted about five seconds, but that was enough time for a million thoughts to crash into my mind. 

All in all, it was a great trip even with the threat of the pandemic hanging over our heads. Quarantine is much more difficult when it’s not on a beach.