Omicron hinders the economic recovery of Yucatan (SEFOE)

The Secretary of Economic Development insisted on calling businesses, restaurants, hotels and other service providers not to lower their guard in sanitary measures so that the number of infections can stabilize.

(MERIDA, YUC. – SEFOET).- The notable increase in infections of the omicron variant is putting the economic reactivation of Yucatan at risk, said the head of the Secretary of Economic Development and Labor of the State Government Ernesto Herrera Novelo.

He said that ómicron is hitting the economic recovery very hard since about 32 percent of the state’s workforce is infected and this has aggravated absenteeism, low productivity and, in his case, a very large impact on micro and small local businesses.

Herrera Novelo acknowledged that the record of infected people -904 on Sunday 23th, and 5,000 more cases in the last week- is causing an economic semi-paralysis and this can be aggravated since the escalation of infections has not yet been reached and this could make it to the end of the month.

On this same topic, reports from the business sector establish that the pandemic has already affected: professional services 17 percent: food and beverage manufactures 14 and exports 3 percent; retail trade 11 percent restaurants 10 percent. In addition, information technology companies 9 percent, construction 8 percent; tourism 5 percent, while the least affected are: financial, agribusiness and clothing with 2 percent each.

The IP of Yucatan explained that micro and small companies have been the most affected with a percentage of up to 35 percent, while medium and large companies -greater than 250 employees- the impact has been 14 percent of its workforce trained directly and to a greater extent in the construction sector.

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