MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Machu Picchu opening suspended; Cuzco residents fear tourist transmission of the virus

The Machu Picchu management group, UGM, made the decision based on reports from authorities in the Cusco region, where the citadel is located.

The ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, a jewel of Peruvian tourism, will not reopen in July as originally scheduled due to concerns over the coronavirus, local media reported on Sunday.

The Machu Picchu management group, UGM, made the decision based on reports from authorities in the Cusco region, where the citadel is located.

“It has been decided that it will not be opened on July 1,” Machu Picchu district mayor Darwin Baca, a UGM member, told reporters.

An official reopening date has not yet been set. Baca indicated that a series of health measures, such as testing, are still pending in the area.

Machu Picchu unions have since Monday protested the reopening, saying that allowing tourists in the region would cause a spike in infections.

Peruvian officials announced last week that the citadel would be allowed to reopen to a sharply reduced number of daily visitors: only 675 per day, one-quarter the usual number.

Guides would lead tours of only seven visitors, and people would be required to wear masks.

The planned July reopening was linked to a lifting of national confinement measures in place since March 16, Cusco regional governor Paul Benavente said.

Airports in Peru remain closed, and many shops are shuttered. But despite some of Latin America's earliest and most stringent measures, the country has logged the second-highest number of cases in the region, at 250,000, along with nearly 8,000 deaths.