This novel approach to dealing with non-mask wearers requires a bit of a heel turn.
Central de Abastos, one of the largest food markets in the world, has turned to luchadors — professional wrestlers — from the legendary Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (which translates to the World Wrestling Council) to enforce mask-wearing by shoppers and vendors.
In a video shared on Twitter by SBS News in Australia, a crew of luchadors manhandle customers and vendors who have forgotten (or refused) to wear masks. They also get spritzed with a healthy dose of what appears to be some sort of disinfectant spray.
From the looks of it, the responses to this approach vary from enthused to a bit pissed off. (Though, to be fair, getting carried by the waist by a professional wrestler to get masked up is not something that anyone ever really anticipates happening to them.)
The luchadors even ensure that masks are properly worn, with one pulling up the mask over an avocado vendor’s nose, and that people understand the value of wearing masks out in public.
“People still don’t believe in this virus, despite so many deaths there have been,” said Cyclone Ramirez Jr., one of the luchadors-slash-public health heroes, to SBS News.
“People look up [to] us, they are drawn to our masks, and I think it helps to make them slightly more responsible so that we can be an image and help society to continue becoming aware that this virus is still very strong.”
The program, done in conjunction with Mexico City’s health institute, has become a bit of a media phenomenon, with guests recording the luchadors and the market capitalizing on the virality of their new enforcers.
"You are warned!" reads one tweet by the market.
But the mask mandate is serious business. Nearly a quarter of all of Mexico’s COVID-19 cases are in the heavily populated Mexico City, and while cases have declined from a January peak, the city reports an average seven-day case load of more than 5,000 a day.
Mexico also ranks third in the world in COVID-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins.
