Sunday, April 19, 2020
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Friday, April 17, 2020
AMLO urges passage of amnesty law to reduce contagion in prisons
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Use of face masks declared mandatory in at least 11 states, Mexico City
The Mexico City Metro, where masks are now required.Use of face masks declared mandatory in at least 11 states, Mexico City
States adopt the measure while federal authorities doubt their effectiveness
As part of efforts to reduce Covid-19 transmission, governments in at least 11 states and Mexico City have made the use of face masks mandatory either in all public places or in certain locations.
Starting Friday, all Mexico City Metro passengers must wear masks while inside stations and on trains, Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum announced on Wednesday.
To support the measure, Metro workers will distribute 1 million masks free of charge to passengers at the Pantitlán station. Located in the capital’s east, the station is the busiest in the system during peak hours. Sheinbaum said that city officials will also distribute free masks at most other stations.
In Puebla, Governor Miguel Ángel Barbosa signed a decree stipulating that face masks must be worn in public places. The order took effect on Monday and is being supported by state authorities who are distributing thousands of masks. Despite the decree, people who don’t wear masks while outside will not face sanctions.
State authorities in Tamaulipas, Oaxaca, Durango, Coahuila, Quintana Roo and Yucatán have also ordered the obligatory use of masks by citizens when they are outside their homes. Oaxaca Governor Alejandro Murat said that people who don’t comply could be fined or face other sanctions.
In Nuevo León, people won’t be allowed to board public transit if they are not wearing a mask and their use has also been made obligatory in taxis and private vehicles providing ride share services via companies such as Uber. State Health Minister Manuel de la O Cavazos said that those providing transportation services who don’t uphold the rule will be sanctioned.
In Chilpancingo, the capital of Guerrero, city authorities have made the use of masks mandatory in markets, supermarkets, department stores and public transit, while in León, Guanajuato, citizens must wear them in all public places.
The use of masks is also compulsory for all citizens in Cuernavaca, Morelos, when they are not in their homes, while senior citizens, pregnant women, children and people with respiratory diseases who live in other parts of the state must wear them while outside.
While millions of Mexicans have now been told to wear masks by their local authorities, it appears unlikely that the federal government will make their use in public mandatory across the country. Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said last week that there is no solid scientific evidence that the widespread use of masks will help to limit the spread of Covid-19.
He said earlier this month that people can be lulled into a “false sense of security” while wearing masks, believing that they are not susceptible to infection when in fact they are.
Source: Milenio (sp)
Thursday, April 16, 2020
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Oaxaca wildfires trigger emergency declaration
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Oaxaca wildfires trigger emergency declarationIn the face of spreading wildfires, the state of Oaxaca is asking the federal government to extend its state of emergency declaration from four municipalities to nine. FULL STORY |
Quintana Roo orders mobility restrictions As phase three of the coronavirus pandemic looms on Mexico’s horizon, Quintana Roo continues to tighten public health measures.
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Quintana Roo orders mobility restrictionsAs phase three of the coronavirus pandemic looms on Mexico’s horizon, Quintana Roo continues to tighten public health measures. FULL STORY |
130 fined for violating mandatory quarantine
130 fined for violating mandatory quarantine
Most citizens in Sonora stayed at home on the first day of the statewide mandatory lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 on Monday, but authorities still had to issue fines and apply other sanctions to force some to return home. FULL STORYIt’s a matter of days before Mexico enters phase three of Covid-19 crisis The next phase will bring 'very rapid' spread of Covid-19, says deputy health minister
It’s a matter of days before Mexico enters phase three of Covid-19 crisis
The next phase will bring 'very rapid' spread of Covid-19, says deputy health minister
Mexico will enter phase three of the coronavirus pandemic in a matter of days, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said on Tuesday as the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 continues to rise steadily.
Speaking at the Health Ministry’s nightly coronavirus press briefing, López-Gatell once again urged citizens to stay at home to reduce the number of new infections and thus help to avoid overwhelming the nation’s health system.
Despite the work the authorities have done to prepare the system for a large influx of patients, the spread of Covid-19 “could be so quick” during phase three that hospitals would be unable to cope, he said.
In such a scenario, the health system would experience “serious and large problems” in attending to Covid-19 patients, López-Gatell added.
The deputy minister said that the commencement of phase three is “literally” just days away and that when it arrives, the spread of Covid-19 will be “very rapid” and “irreversible.”
| Coronavirus by state | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Deaths | Cases | Suspected | Tested negative |
| Mexico City | 92 | 1556 | 2049 | 4628 |
| Estado de México | 35 | 602 | 904 | 1800 |
| Sinaloa | 34 | 261 | 293 | 680 |
| Baja California | 28 | 412 | 590 | 766 |
| Puebla | 27 | 276 | 312 | 762 |
| Quintana Roo | 25 | 245 | 201 | 403 |
| Tabasco | 19 | 195 | 343 | 502 |
| Chihuahua | 16 | 69 | 186 | 211 |
| Coahuila | 12 | 194 | 911 | 920 |
| Jalisco | 11 | 165 | 620 | 2350 |
| Michoacán | 11 | 67 | 163 | 469 |
| Hidalgo | 10 | 64 | 33 | 377 |
| Sonora | 9 | 73 | 158 | 465 |
| Morelos | 9 | 53 | 79 | 266 |
| Yucatán | 7 | 116 | 147 | 511 |
| Guerrero | 6 | 88 | 142 | 279 |
| Baja California Sur | 5 | 164 | 198 | 484 |
| Nuevo León | 5 | 136 | 1919 | 1634 |
| Veracruz | 5 | 94 | 418 | 838 |
| Guanajuato | 5 | 90 | 172 | 1496 |
| Oaxaca | 5 | 46 | 60 | 330 |
| Querétaro | 4 | 65 | 68 | 419 |
| San Luis Potosí | 4 | 55 | 115 | 800 |
| Tlaxcala | 4 | 51 | 149 | 296 |
| Nayarit | 4 | 25 | 36 | 158 |
| Tamaulipas | 3 | 55 | 178 | 438 |
| Chiapas | 3 | 45 | 67 | 234 |
| Durango | 3 | 15 | 89 | 248 |
| Campeche | 2 | 33 | 41 | 95 |
| Zacatecas | 2 | 17 | 59 | 244 |
| Aguascalientes | 1 | 65 | 66 | 705 |
| Colima | 7 | 26 | 92 | |
| Deaths | Cases | Suspected | Tested negative | |
| Total | 406 | 5399 | 10792 | 23900 |
“What we do today [in terms of social distancing], we have few days left to do it vigorously,” López-Gatell said.
“[We have to] avoid being in contact with other people, … all of us, not just the people with greater risk of having complications [from the disease]. We insist that you stay at home; this is the measure of precaution, prevention and control that is necessary today,” he said.
Asked whether a phase three declaration could only apply to certain parts of the country that have concentrated outbreaks of Covid-19, López-Gatell responded:
“Technically it could be done … but [a] … selective process would be confusing, that’s why we’re considering a single phase three [declaration] of a national character.”
An obligatory home quarantine and a “health curfew” in which people are only permitted to leave their homes during certain hours are among the stricter restrictions that the government could choose to impose during the third phase of the pandemic, although President López Obrador said earlier this month that his administration would not seek to implement any “draconian measures.”
López-Gatell’s declaration that a phase three declaration is imminent came after Health Ministry Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía reported that the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 had increased by 385 to 5,399 and that coronavirus-related deaths had risen to 406 from 332 a day earlier.
The 72 new fatalities represent the biggest single-day increase in the death toll since the first Covid-19 patient died on March 18.
Alomía also said that there are 10,792 suspected cases of Covid-19 in the country and that just over 40,000 people have now been tested. Almost 40% of those confirmed to have Covid-19 – a total of 2,125 people – have now recovered, he said.
Mexico City has the highest number of confirmed cases, with 1,556, followed by México state and Baja California, where there are 602 and 412 cases, respectively. Colima has the lowest number, with seven, followed by Durango and Zacatecas, where there are 15 and 17 cases, respectively.
Among the more than 5,000 people confirmed to have Covid-19 are nine infants aged less than one. Twenty-four pregnant women have also tested positive and four have died.
Mexico City also leads the country in terms of coronavirus-related deaths with 92 fatalities. México state and Sinaloa follow with 35 and 34 deaths, respectively. Colima is the only state that hasn’t yet recorded a fatality.
Among Covid-19 patients aged 60 or over, the fatality rate is 17.1 per 100 cases and for those aged 25-59 it is 5.6. There has only been one coronavirus-related death among those younger than 25 – a 2-year-old girl with a congenital heart defect died in Tabasco on Tuesday.
The overall fatality rate in Mexico is 7.52 per 100 cases. According to Health Ministry data, 43% of those who have died suffered from hypertension, 38% had diabetes, 34% were obese and 12% had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
As the percentages indicate, some of the deceased suffered from more than one existing health problem.
Source: Milenio (sp)
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