Authorities in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, are urging residents to stay at home due to an increase in both coronavirus cases and hospital admissions of Covid-19 patients.
The message was broadcast over loudspeakers in the resort city on Sunday, and the Los Cabos council took to social media to advise people to continue to social distance and wear a face mask if they have to go out.
Separately, Mayor Armida Castro Guzmán called on citizens to follow all virus mitigation measures as Los Cabos — one of Mexico’s popular tourism destinations — attempts to get on top of a growing Covid outbreak.
“The Covid numbers … have exceeded the municipality’s hospital capacity,” she said. “We’re very worried, … we have to keep following the [health] measures.”
There are currently 1,402 active coronavirus cases in Los Cabos, according to state government data, a figure that accounts for more than 60% of the total in Baja California Sur. State capital La Paz is also facing a growing outbreak with 782 active cases.
Federal data shows that 97% of general care beds at the IMSS General Hospital in Cabo San Lucas are occupied and 93% of those with ventilators are taken. State data shows that 126 Covid patients are in general care hospital beds in Los Cabos and 44 are on ventilators. A team of 20 health workers from Puebla arrived in the municipality on Friday to support overwhelmed local medical personnel.
Mayor Castro said Sunday that health checkpoints, where citizens are monitored for Covid symptoms such as fever, had been set up across Los Cabos with the assistance of the National Guard. Cemeteries were closed on Sunday – Father’s Day – to avoid crowds and entry to beaches was limited to 40% of normal capacity.
Across Baja California Sur, there are currently 2,272 active cases, according to the state government, the highest figure recorded since the start of the pandemic. New infections increased some 90% during the past two weeks compared to the previous fortnight.
The state has an accumulated case tally of almost 36,000 and has recorded 1,586 Covid-19 deaths. La Paz ranks first for cases and deaths among the five Baja California Sur municipalities while Los Cabos is second in both categories.
The official Covid-19 death toll is 728 in La Paz, 522 in Los Cabos, 167 in Comondú, 129 in Mulegé and 40 in Loreto.
With reports from Milenio and El Independiente
