A state official said the seafood warning announced days ago is still ongoing and authorities have no clue as of when the ban would be lifted.
Sanitary Risk Protection Director Leopoldo Jiménez said the agency has approached seafood producers from the Sea of Cortez in order to address the issue and has also monitored and inspected seafood stores to avoid consumption.
The official said the temporary seafood ban covers January due to the presence of high levels of saxitoxin, a potent neurotoxin that can lead consumers to paralytic shellfish poisoning.
Due to the warning residents and visitors are asked to avoid eating bivalve mollusks like mussels, clams, oysters and scallops, among others.
Jiménez said the phenomenon is a natural environmental contingency that has no estimated time of duration.
Two years ago a similar case was reported and the ban took from January until September.
The director said the ban includes all mollusks collected from the Colorado River Delta down to Punta Cerro Prieto in the Gulf of California.
Jiménez said no human case of intoxication has been reported so far.
The official also said the ban would be lifted until three consecutive cases of normal levels of saxitoxin are detected.
City observes high price increase
The City of Mexicali reported the fourth largest price increase during the first half of January, said the Mexican Institute of Statistics and Geography or INEGI in Spanish.
The agency said the capital city of Baja California observed an increase of 2.86 percent on the first two weeks of January, according to the National Consumer Price Index.
Mexicali was below the 3.29 percent reported on Matamoros, Tamaulipas, the 2.97 percent of Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila and the 2.89 percent of Tijuana.
Nationwide, items like gasoline, gas, transportation and water rates observed increased prices that range from 2.34 to 21.67 percent during the same period, according to the report.
Interim teachers to get paid
A local official said federal and state interim teachers will get paid their owed salaries next week.
Undersecretary of Planning and Business with the state Education System Luis Carrazco said the extraordinary payment ascends to 94 million pesos or $4.7 million.
The payment will be made by Feb. 1, he said.
Carrazco said due to unexpected issues and the blockade at the state building authorities were forced to use an alternative system to process checks.
The state was also forced to reschedule payments, he added.
Originally, interim teachers were to get paid Friday, he said.
