U.S.-MEXICO BORDER COVID-19 TESTING PROGRAM ENDS

SAN DIEGO, July 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership (BPP), the Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), and Cross Border Xpress (CBX) announce the end of the U.S.-Mexico Border COVID-19 Testing Program at the San Diego-Tijuana CBX on June 29, 2023.

Beginning on April 25, 2022, international travelers entering San Diego through the CBX terminal from the Tijuana Airport were able to take voluntary COVID-19 tests thanks to this dynamic public-private-philanthropic partnership among BPP, the Consulate General of Mexico in San Diego's Ventanilla de Salud Program, the CDPH, and CBX.

A total of 16,857 individuals, aged 5 and up, participated in the program, and 564 positive COVID-19 cases were identified. "This program helped to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to our binational friends and families while traveling internationally, and we thank the Consulate of Mexico in San Diego, the State of California, and CBX for rising to the challenge of COVID-19 with this innovative program," said Andy Carey, Executive Director of the BPP."

"The program was led by a group of eight professional health promotoras as part of the Ventanilla de Salud program at the Consulate General of Mexico that serves over 3,000 people each month alone in San Diego and over 3 million annually across the United States," said Ambassador Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, Consul General of Mexico in San Diego.  "We greatly appreciate our community partnership with BPP and extend our thanks to Cross Border Xpress for allowing us to provide this important service to our community."

Funded by the CDPH's California Office of Binational Border Health, the program allowed the CDPH COVID-19 Testing Task Force to test for COVID-19 and to provide international travelers with information about COVID-19 prevention and treatment. San Diego-Tijuana CBX, San Francisco International Airport, and Los Angeles International Airport were the three participating airports. 

"We are proud of our partnership," said Jorge Goytortúa, CEO of CBX. "Promoting the safe recovery of tourism is one of our priorities, and we are glad that we could take advantage of the high volume of passengers at CBX to benefit our binational community,"

About the BPP

The BPP is a binational membership organization whose mission is to support a network of organizations that build prosperity through leadership, collaboration, and philanthropy in the U.S.-Mexico Border region. www.borderpartnership.org.

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SOURCE U.S.-Mexico Border Philanthropy Partnership