The coronavirus pandemic is not weakening in Mexico, contrary to the optimistic statements of the president, Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador (“AMLO”), who still hammered, Wednesday, July 22, that “The crisis is overcome”. The next day, however, the country broke its record for contagions in 24 hours (8,438 new confirmed cases). With a total of 41,908 deaths recorded Thursday, July 23, Mexico is the 4e countries in the world in number of deaths, well beyond initial forecasts. A contradictory official message which raises the criticisms of the experts against the government strategy. To the point that some governors contest the health measures of the federal authorities.
“There is a bit of confusion”, recognized, Monday, July 20, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, Deputy Minister of Health, during his daily press conference. “The epidemic continues to increase but at a slower rate”, repeats the chief epidemiologist and spokesperson for the government’s health strategy. However, the figures are flying: 370,712 cases were confirmed on Thursday, placing the country seventh in the world for contaminations. Worse, Mexico, with 718 additional deaths Thursday, is behind the United Kingdom (45,639 dead) behind the United States (144,242 dead) and Brazil (84,082 dead).
“Whims” which “cost too many lives”
” We have managed to slow the spread of the virus in order to avoid the saturation of hospitals while increasing their reception capacity », Congratulates Mr. Lopez-Gatell. Non-compulsory confinement, introduced on March 30, has made it possible to limit hospital occupancy to less than 50% on average in the territory, and to less than 80% in the most affected regions. The government initiated, since 1er June, a gradual resumption of economic activities. “We have made the difficult decision to balance the protection of health and that of the well-being of people because half of the population lives from hand to mouth”, justifies Mr. Lopez-Gatell who invites Mexicans to “Stay at home when they can”.
In a country where six in ten workers work in the informal economy, the government has launched a gradual deconfinement based on a four-color code (red, orange, yellow and green) depending on the levels of contamination according to the regions. As of mid-July, 18 of the 32 states have been placed in Code Red, allowing only essential activities. The rest is in code orange, allowing the partial opening of other activities.
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