The number of green light low risk states will fall to six from eight on Monday after the federal Health Ministry presented an updated coronavirus stoplight map on Friday.
There will be 20 yellow light medium risk states during the next two weeks, an increase of one compared to the map currently in effect, and six orange light high risk states, also an increase of one. For the fifth consecutive fortnight there will be no red light maximum risk states.
Each stoplight color, determined by the Health Ministry using 10 different indicators including case numbers and hospital occupancy levels, is accompanied by recommended restrictions to slow the spread of the virus but it is ultimately up to state governments to decide on their own restrictions.
The green light states between April 26 and May 9 will be Chiapas, Campeche, Coahuila, Veracruz, Jalisco and Guanajuato. The first four states are already green while Jalisco and Guanajuato will switch from yellow because their coronavirus situations have improved.
The yellow light states will be Baja California, Sonora, Sinaloa, Zacatecas, Durango, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí, Colima, Michoacán, Tlaxcala, Guerrero, Morelos, Puebla, Querétaro, Oaxaca, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, Nayarit, México state and Yucatán.
The first 14 states are already yellow, Oaxaca, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and Nayarit will switch from green after the Health Ministry deemed that their risk level has increased and México state and Yucatán will advance from orange due to an improved coronavirus situation.
México state Governor Alfredo del Mazo said Friday that hospital occupancy levels had decreased in the state, which has recorded the second highest number of coronavirus cases and Covid-19 deaths among the 32 states after Mexico City.
Businesses in the state, which includes many municipalities that are part of the Mexico City metropolitan area, will be permitted to extend their opening hours and increase capacity starting Monday.
“It’s important to say that even though we’ve progressed a lot, we are still at risk of infection. The yellow stoplight means that we still have a latent risk,” del Mazo said.
Coronavirus restrictions will also ease in Yucatán on Monday due to that state’s switch to yellow, while Querétaro authorities relaxed rules on Friday after they, contrary to the federal Health Ministry, deemed that the risk level had declined.
Businesses in Querétaro were permitted to extend their opening hours and capacity levels until at least May 9 due to the state’s shift to so-called Scenario A restrictions, while the Corregidora stadium will be allowed to fill to 30% of capacity for this Sunday’s Liga MX soccer match between Querétaro F.C. and F.C. Juárez. Social events of up to 200 people are also now permitted in the state.
Health authorities warned citizens to not drop their guard and remain alert to the risk of infection during the Scenario A period.
The six orange light states during the next two weeks will be Mexico City, Chihuahua, Baja California Sur, Hidalgo, Tabasco and Quintana Roo. The first three states are already orange while the last three will switch from yellow.
Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said the capital – Mexico’s coronavirus epicenter since the beginning of the pandemic – is very close to switching to medium risk yellow. In fact, there is a chance that Mexico City authorities will announce a downgrade to the risk level next Friday, which would take effect the following Monday.
“We’re still on the orange light but we’re calling next week’s stoplight ‘toward yellow,’” said government official Eduard Clark.
There are still more than 9,000 estimated active cases in Mexico City but new infections are on the wane, Clark said.
The capital has recorded almost 635,000 confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic and 41,472 Covid-19 fatalities, figures that respectively account for 27.3% and 19.3% of Mexico’s accumulated case tally and official death toll.
The national case tally currently stands at 2.32 million while the official death toll is 214,504, although the federal government has acknowledged that the real number of Covid-19 fatalities is well above 300,000. There are 27,615 active cases across the country, according to Health Ministry estimates.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell reported at Friday night’s coronavirus press briefing that 397,292 Covid-19 vaccine doses were administered on Friday, pushing the total number of doses given to 15.87 million. Most of the shots have gone to health workers and seniors, although the number of vaccinated teachers is now rising quickly as authorities seek to reopen schools more than a year after they closed.
As of Friday night, Mexico had received 21.61 million doses of five vaccines – Pfizer, AstraZeneca, SinoVac, Sputnik V and CanSino – meaning that about three-quarters of those delivered have been used.
The federal government said in February that it expected to receive more than 100 million vaccine doses by the end of May but that prediction now appears exceedingly unlikely to come true.
Source: El Universal (sp), Reforma (sp), AS (sp)
