Health workers in Guerrero, Morelos, Tamaulipas, Hidalgo and Querétaro have protested to demand payment of the 20% coronavirus bonus announced by federal authorities in April.

Medical personnel at the IMSS Vicente Guerrero hospital in Acapulco, Guerrero, blocked a road in the city’s hospital district for six hours on Wednesday to demand payment of the bonus, the newspaper La Jornada reported.

Some workers said they received the bonus in one pay packet but were docked the same amount the next time they were paid.

The protesting IMSS employees also demanded the delivery of more personal protective equipment and supplies to treat coronavirus patients. Acapulco has recorded more than 1,800 Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, a figure that equates to almost two-thirds of the total number of cases detected in Guerrero.

Health workers who work directly with coronavirus patients in Morelos also protested to demand payment of the promised salary supplement. The small central Mexican state has recorded a total of 1,715 Covid-19 cases.

In Tamaulipas, doctors and nurses protested in the municipalities of Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros, Tampico, Reynosa and Ciudad Victoria to demand payment of the bonus, and also called for greater job security, higher salaries and the provision of benefits such as medical insurance.

Some doctors and nurses said they are paid wages as low as 5,000 pesos (US $220) a month despite having years of experience. Tamaulipas has recorded 2,506 cases since the start of the pandemic but only 467 are considered active.

According to a draft “stoplight” map sent to state governors this week, the infection risk level in the northern border state will switch from the “red light” maximum level to “orange light” high on Monday.

In Pachuca, Hidalgo, about 40 health workers from the IMSS Area 1 General Hospital participated in a protest on Wednesday. Nurses, orderlies and others demanded the payment of the salary bonus as well as the delivery of more equipment and supplies to treat coronavirus patients. Hidalgo has recorded 2,460 confirmed Covid-19 cases of which 607 were detected in Pachuca, the state capital.

Workers at a specialty hospital for children and women in Querétaro city also demanded the unpaid bonus and denounced the poor quality of the supplies and equipment they have received.

Just over 1,300 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Querétaro including 875 in the state capital.

Source: La Jornada (sp)