The Oaxaca Congress has approved a law that stipulates that mayors will be removed from office if their governments don’t enforce statewide coronavirus rules.

The new law, which took effect Thursday, complements an existing law that establishes that municipal officials who don’t comply with coronavirus restrictions can be fined or even jailed.

It says that while the coronavirus is deemed a threat, all public activities must be suspended. They include patron saint festivals, street markets and all public Day of the Dead activities.

The law also says that the capacity of restaurants and hotels must be restricted and that bars, cantinas and nightclubs must remain closed.

If municipal governments don’t enforce the rules, mayors and municipal councilors are subject to immediate dismissal.

Oaxaca is the first state in the country to pass such a law.

The southern state has recorded 19,458 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to official data, and 1,562 Covid-related deaths.

It has the 18th highest case tally among Mexico’s 32 states and the 20th highest death toll.

Oaxaca is one of seven states where the risk of coronavirus infection according to the federal government’s stoplight system increased to orange light “high” this week from yellow light “medium.”

Meanwhile, Mexico’s official Covid-19 case tally and death toll continue to increase steadily 7 1/2 months after the disease was first detected here.

The Health Ministry reported 5,514 new cases on Thursday, increasing the accumulated tally to 834,910, and 387 additional fatalities, lifting the death toll to 85,285.

The accumulated numbers for both cases and deaths are widely believed to be significant undercounts because Mexico’s testing rate is very low compared to many other countries.

Source: Milenio (sp)