Mexico's Interior Department is urging towns and states to stop putting up roadblocks and curfews to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, as hundreds have done.
The department said in a statement on Tuesday that such measures violate constitutional rights like the right to free movement, and argued that local governments don't have the authority to enact them.
The health emergency does not constitute a state of emergency or suspension of rights, the department wrote.
The department said in a report that almost 20 per cent of Mexican municipal governments, about 340, have put up checkpoints or filters to limit people's movements.
Most were concentrated along the country's coasts, where many beach towns have tried to exclude travelers who might spread the coronavirus.
Dozens of towns have enacted curfews and at least three of the country's 31 states have threatened to arrest people who don't obey social distancing measures.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
