Cheetos Torciditos are similar in appearance to Crunchy Cheetos sold in the United States.
Bags of Cheetos corn chips contain ingredients that could be toxic, a consumer advocacy group warned.
El Poder del Consumidor (Power of the Consumer) warned against eating cheese and chile flavored Cheetos Torciditos, which are similar in appearance to Crunchy Cheetos sold in the United States.
The group said its analysis showed most of the chips’ 43 ingredients were additives, and isolated THHQ as “a preservative that has been shown to be toxic.” It added that “the poor quality of the product” and its high salt levels made it a bad choice for consumers.
Other ingredients flagged for concern were the additive monosodium glutamate which it said “has been shown to inhibit satiety centers, inducing voracious eating … monosodium glutamate and artificial dyes that affect the behavior of children, as well as other toxic additives such as TBHQ [tert-Butylhydroquinone], BHT [Butylated hydroxytoluene], silicon dioxide, [disodium] guanylate and disodium inosinate.”
The group found that the product contained 561 milligrams of salt per 100 grams, which far exceeds the limit allowed under Mexican food regulations. The law states that highly processed foods should not exceed 350 milligrams of salt per 100 grams.
Food regulations also state that calories shouldn’t exceed a count of 275 per 100 grams. However, the group found the chips contained 344 calories per 60 grams.
“The high consumption of this type of calories has been directly associated with conditions such as … obesity, especially in children,” the group added.
They also found fault in another part of the company’s operations. Cheetos was forced to retire its cheetah mascot Chester in January 2021 in compliance with new regulations. However, the consumer group said the company was still using Chester on social media. “The character of the cheetah so characteristic of the Cheetos was banned, however it is still referred to [on social media] … These types of tactics are used by the industry to continue promoting its products, even with the regulations that governments impose to protect the health of its population.”
Cheetos is a product of American multinational food giant PepsiCo.
A photo of what the thieves left behind: empty boxes and in the case of the pope's gifts, certificates of authentication. Facebook Alberto Barranco Chavarría
For many in Mexico and around the world, Pope Francis is a revered religious leader, worthy of the highest respect. But that didn’t stop some sticky-fingered opportunists at the Mexico City airport from making off with His Holiness’ gifts to the nation.
Religious items sent by the Pope were stolen from the luggage of Alberto Barranco Chavarría, the Mexican ambassador to the Vatican.
The outraged diplomat shared the news of the theft on social media, charging that the items were taken by baggage handlers the evening of January 8, after an Iberia flight from Madrid landed.
“Like vultures, those responsible for unloading baggage from Iberia flight IB6403 … selectively plundered the suitcases, opening and rummaging through [them] without the slightest shame, to find their loot,” Barranco said, lamenting that such was the treatment of travelers arriving in Mexico.
In his case, the thieves took several religious objects given by the pope, leaving behind empty boxes and their certificates of authenticity. They also nabbed a Calvin Klein lotion and a marble figurine.
With sources from Milenio and Bajo Palabra Noticias
Police arrested José Antonio "El Marro," Yépez in August of 2020 at a property in Guanajuato state where he held a businesswoman captive.
A once notorious Guanajuato cartel leader has been handed a 60-year prison sentence for the kidnapping of a businesswoman.
José Antonio Yépez Ortiz, known by the moniker El Marro, was the leader of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, a fuel theft, extortion and drug trafficking organization.
He was arrested on August 2, 2020, at a property in a small town in Juventino Rosas, a Guanajuato municipality about 75 kilometers southeast of the state capital, Guanajuato city, ending a 1 1/2-year-long manhunt. The businesswoman was found on the property and freed.
Yépez faces further charges of homicide, fuel theft and organized crime.
Five other cartel members were on trial along with the former leader. They are all being held in different prisons, with Yépez in the maximum-security Altiplano prison in México state. The judgment was announced remotely from Valle de Santiago, Guanajuato.
Beyond the 60-year prison sentence, Yépez faces further charges of homicide, fuel theft and organized crime.
The governor of Guanajuato, Diego Sinhue Rodríguez Vallejo, praised legal institutions after the sentence. “We have strong institutions to guarantee justice with the full weight of the law for those who violate it. We will not stop until we achieve the … peace that the good people [of Guanajuato] deserve to live in,” he said.
The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel has been engaged in a bloody turf war with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) since Yépez publicly declared war in 2017.
Guanajuato is destined to be named the state with the most homicides for the fourth consecutive year, pending data for December. From January through November, it recorded 3,239 homicides, ahead of Baja California which saw 2,800.
Celebrations for the New Year were short-lived in the state: in just the first seven days of 2021, it recorded 60 homicides.
President López Obrador has previously questioned the efforts of Governor Rodríguez and Attorney General Carlos Zamarripa to combat crime and violence.
Pressure on Mexico's health care system is growing as the omicron variant is putting more people into hospital.
The omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to drive daily case numbers to record highs as pressure on Mexico’s health system grows.
The federal Health Ministry reported 47,113 confirmed new cases on Saturday, a figure that broke the single-day record set the day before by almost 3,000 cases or 6%.
An additional 19,132 cases were reported Sunday, leaving Mexico with an accumulated infection tally of 4.36 million and an estimated active case count of 306,389.
The active case tally exceeded 314,000 on Saturday – a new pandemic high – before declining slightly on Sunday, a day on which the number of new infections has been lower throughout the pandemic due to a drop-off in testing and/or the recording and reporting of test results on weekends.
The tally has increased 607% this year after 2021 ended with just over 43,000 estimated active cases. Daily case numbers averaged 24,287 in the first 16 days of January, a 720% increase compared to December.
México state health officials on the lookout for mask scofflaws on city streets in Ecatepec on Sunday.
COVID-19 fatalities remain below December levels for now but hospitalizations are on the rise. The Health Ministry has reported 1,982 deaths to date in January for a daily average of 124, a 26% decline compared to last month.
Daily reported deaths on Friday and Saturday – 195 and 227, respectively – were well above the January average before falling to 76 on Sunday. The official pandemic death toll – which excess mortality data indicates is a significant undercount – rose to 301,410 on Sunday, the fifth highest total in the world.
While evidence shows the omicron strain generally causes less severe illness than that caused by other variants, hospital occupancy levels for COVID patients have nevertheless increased significantly. Thirty percent of general care hospital beds are currently taken, up from 15% in the middle of December, while 17% of those with ventilators are occupied, a five-point jump.
Federal data shows that 113 public hospitals have reached 100% capacity in their general COVID wards, while an additional 38 hospitals have occupancy levels above 70%.
• Mexico City easily has the highest number of estimated active cases with over 68,000 as of Sunday. However, Baja California Sur has the highest number of infections on a per capita basis with about 1,000 per 100,000 people.
Mexico City has close to 800 active cases per 100,000 people while each of San Luis Potosí, Colima and Tabasco has over 400.
At the other end of the scale is Chiapas, where the number of active cases per 100,000 people barely registers on the Health Ministry’s latest graph.
• Contrary to the federal government’s assertions, omicron can cause serious illness, says a virologist and researcher at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí.
“We have to stop playing down [the variant], like the federal government, which says omicron is a little flu,” said Andreu Comas García. “… We know that it’s a virus that affects the whole body,” he added.
President López Obrador, who tested positive a week ago but returned to his regular news conference on Monday, described omicron as “un covidcito” or “a little COVID,” while Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell compared the virus to the common cold.
The nation’s former influenza czar Alejandro Macías.
• The omicron-fueled surge in cases is the “last swipe of the pandemic’s tail,” infectious disease specialist Alejandro Macías said in a radio interview.
He predicted that case numbers will continue to increase for the next two to three weeks before starting to decline.
“Let’s get through another three weeks, and I think we’re going to emerge to a much more controllable situation,” Macías said, explaining that his prediction was based on what happened in South Africa, where the omicron-fueled wave has now receded.
The doctor, the federal government’s influenza czar during the swine flu pandemic, predicted last Tuesday that half of Mexico’s population will contract omicron in the coming weeks.
“COVID-19: an infectious disease had never spread with the speed that omicron is spreading. At this rate … half the population will be infected in the following weeks,” Macías wrote on Twitter.
He tweeted another prediction on Monday morning: “Of course we can be optimistic for 2022: the COVID pandemic could reach its endemic phase. But those who think the omicron variant is a little cold are mistaken. There will still be more cases and more deaths. Hospitals and intensive care units will still fill up.”
• Enrique Ruelas, director of the International Institute for Health Futures, a think tank, warned that the fourth wave of infections is placing additional pressure on health workers who are already exhausted after treating COVID patients for almost two years.
“It’s an enormous amount of time [to be under intense pressure], … the exhaustion accumulates, [and] the consequence of this is not just for health personnel but patients as well. It’s … proven that the number of mistakes committed when looking after patients increases in proportion to the tiredness of the personnel providing the care,” he said.
In addition, coronavirus infections among health workers are depleting workforces, placing even more pressure on those who remain on the job.
• Authorities in Orizaba, a magical town in Veracruz, have made the use of face masks mandatory in public places. The rule took effect Saturday with non-compliance punishable with a fine of 864 pesos (US $42). However, scofflaws are supposed to be given two warnings before they incur a fine.
The rule is slated to remain in effect until February 15.
• Authorities in Ecatepec, México state, made masks mandatory last week, and a 29-year-old man last Friday became the first person to be detained for non-compliance. Javier N. was jailed for eight hours for not wearing a mask in the street.
Pharmacies like this Mexico City one are being swarmed with people seeking COVID tests.
According to the newspaper El Financiero, the man received a warning for not wearing a mask and subsequently put one on. However, he removed it a short time later, prompting municipal officers to detain him.
Simmons, right, thanked his devoted fan, left, for the homage.
A garbage collector who dressed up as a member of the rock band Kiss a year and a half ago has caught the attention of one of the band’s founders.
Gene Simmons retweeted a video on Friday of the worker fully clad in black and white outfit, black and white face paint and long hair in the style of the band calling for trash from the back of a truck in Monterrey, Nuevo León.
The man, who Simmons called Rodrigo, imitated the Kiss on stage persona by sticking out his tongue and pointing up his index and pinky fingers to make a “Rock On” sign. The band’s 1979 hit I Was Made for Lovin’ You from the album Dynasty was played over the top of the video.
The clip began circulating on social networks in mid-2020 but only recently reached Simmons, the news website Infobae reported.
“This handsome gentleman works at the Sanitation Company in Monterrey, Mexico … a powerful and attractive man, if there ever was one! Thank you, Rodrigo,” the tweet read. It has received almost 42,000 likes and the video has almost 600,000 views.
This handsome gentleman works at the Sanitation Company in Monterey, Mexico…A powerful and attractive man, if there ever was one! Thank you, Rodrigo. pic.twitter.com/YGE6VHJUg1
Kiss came to prominence in the 1970s and is known for its theatrical live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood-spitting, smoking guitars, rockets, levitating drum kits and pyrotechnics. The four founding members took on comic-book style stage personas: The Starchild, Space Ace, The Catman and Simmons’ The Demon.
The band has been on its End of the Road World Tour since January 2019 and has eight concerts scheduled for Latin America later in 2022, none of which is in Mexico.
Promo photo of the Nipon brand of Japanese peanuts, sold in Mexico.
So what’s up with “Japanese peanuts” in Mexico that are in every convenience store in the snack aisle? The peanuts are not grown in Japan, nor is the snack imported from there. But there is a Japanese connection.
And that connection’s name is Yashigei Nakatani Moriguchi.
Mexico has had Japanese immigration since the late 19th century, when the government allowed immigrants from there to work on railroads and commercial farms. But by the time Nakatani arrived in 1932, such immigration required sponsorship by a Mexican resident.
So Nakatani obtained his Mexican visa by answering a job ad in Japan for a company that owned a button factory in Mexico, as well as the “El Nuevo Japón” department store, a competitor to the upscale Liverpool and El Palacio de Hierro. Nakatani’s plan was to work in Mexico for five years making buttons and then return home.
In his memoir, Ese Árbol aún Sigue en Pie (This Tree is Still Standing), Nakatani describes the day he stepped off the boat in Manzanillo, Colima, in 1932 — in particular the immediate culture shock and disappointment in seeing poverty in the streets. But he had a solid job waiting for him in Mexico City.
“Japanese peanuts” as they’re called in Mexico. But they’re called cracker nuts in English.
In the nation’s capital, he dealt with discrimination and the complete inability to speak Spanish. However, this did not keep him from renting a room from a woman who would become his mother-in-law.
Nakatani liked to sing and would go up to the roof to do so. The landlady’s daughter, Ema Ávila Espinoza, found him up there when she went to do the laundry, and she began to teach him Spanish words.
The couple were married and had children within a year. Nakatani would never speak the language well, but he understood it.
The couple continued to grow their family, and Nakatani worked with his Japanese employers until the outbreak of World War II, an event that complicated things for the small Japanese population in Mexico. Many returned to Japan voluntarily, and others, like the lead supervisor for El Nuevo Japón, were accused of spying for imperial Japan, deported and had their businesses shut down, which meant that Nakatani no longer had a job.
Any Japanese people on the coasts and border zones had to move to the interior of Mexico for the duration of the war. Already in Mexico City, Nakatani did not have to leave his Mexican family, but they did have to live in one of the Japanese neighborhoods in the capital for both support and protection.
With Nakatani’s job gone, the young couple needed a way to feed their family. They began by making and selling traditional Mexican snacks from their home. But what changed their lives was the decision to adapt a Japanese snack food to Mexican ingredients and tastes.
Nakatani’s registration with Mexico’s immigration service in 1936. National Archives
In his rural hometown of Sumotoshi, Nakatani learned to make orinda: mamekichi seeds with a sweet, rice flour-based coating. Having neither the seeds nor rice flour, he improvised with peanuts, wheat flour, soy and sugar to make a coated fried peanut that is mostly salty with a touch of sweet.
The peanut snack slowly became popular until there were lines of people waiting to buy the “cacahuates del japonés” (the Japanese guy’s peanuts). Eventually, the couple decided to move the business out of the house to a stall in La Merced, the city’s main traditional food market.
Soon afterward, they began to sell the peanuts wholesale, inventing machinery to keep up with the demand. La Merced remained their sales base, and by the 1950s, they had a factory set up in the southeast of Mexico City.
The children had been involved with the business almost since the beginning. It became more formalized in 1950 with the help of their son Armando under the brand name Nipón. That same year, daughter Elvia drew the geisha that still appears on the package.
Into the 1970s, the business continued to grow, incorporating in 1975. In 1977, the brand was officially registered.
What they never did, however, was patent the idea. Imitation brands such as Nishikawa were on the market by 1957, a brand that still exists and makes its peanuts in Mexico City.
Yashigei Nakatani and wife Ema Ávila Espinoza.
By the 1980s, the market for the peanuts grew large enough that snack food corporations Barcel and Sabritas took notice and created their own versions. Nipón found it difficult to compete in price with the giants but managed to continue in part by exporting to Brazil, where the snack is also popular.
The Nipón company remained independent until it was bought out by the Totis brand in 2017, which still sells the peanuts under the Nipón name.
Many sources that discuss Nakatani’s peanuts talk about a similar snack sold and eaten in Japan, where they are supposedly called “Mexican peanuts.” It is true that there is a coated peanut snack called takorina that has the image of a stereotypical Mexican guy on the package, but the notion that it is a Japanese version of the Mexican snack food may be an internet myth.
According to the media outlet Vice, takorina peanuts were invented in Okinawa, a place with a different cuisine from the rest of Japan and known for adapting foreign foods. Supposedly, the peanuts’ flavor is based on a dish there called “taco rice” — which takorina sounds vaguely like — and is spicy and savory.
Marrying into a Mexican family helped Nakatani to integrate and gain acceptance. He lived in Mexico City until his death in 1992 but never became a Mexican citizen. According to a daughter-in-law, he still felt loyalty to his home country.
His first son, Carlos, born in 1932, became a painter, sculptor, cinematographer and writer. Another son, Yoshio, became a noted singer.
However, the family will always be best known for its peanuts.
Gustavo Nakatani Ávila, one of Yashigei Nakatani and Ema Ávila’s sons. He was a successful singer in Mexico known professionally as Yoshio.
Leigh Thelmadatter arrived in Mexico 18 years ago and fell in love with the land and the culture in particular its handcrafts and art. She is the author of Mexican Cartonería: Paper, Paste and Fiesta (Schiffer 2019). Her culture column appears regularly on Mexico News Daily.
Panko’s superpower is bringing mouth-feel and texture to foods.
Just like the heart, the palate wants what it wants. Sweet, salty, sour; crunchy, creamy, chewy.
Panko — Japanese-style breadcrumbs — is one of those foods that fills several flavor profiles at once. With little or no flavor of its own, panko’s talent is bringing mouth-feel and texture to whatever it’s part of. When sprinkled on top of a casserole or other baked dish or used as breading for poultry and seafood, tofu and veggies, panko adds that crispy crunch your mouth is lusting for.
What exactly is panko? Well, the word itself says a lot: in Japanese, pan means bread (like Spanish, how weird) and ko means flour — so basically, breadcrumbs. However, panko is made from hokkaido, Japanese milk bread, a featherlight, airy bread that uses tangzhong — a cooked flour and water paste — as a starter.
When the baked bread is dried and ground, the result is a crispy, light flake, not really what we think of as a crumb. Panko’s bigger surface area also yields crispier coatings that last longer, absorb less oil and have more crunch.
There are no Japanese bakeries in Mazatlán, so I make do with bags of panko I get from a small Asian food store here. Panko has become so popular, though, even Walmart and Soriana have it in their “gourmet” sections, although sugar and flavorings are added to the brands I’ve been able to find.
Many people only know a few ways to use panko, but its repertoire is quite versatile.
Most well-known as a coating for fried fish, pork or chicken (and everyone’s favorite, coconut shrimp), panko’s repertoire is actually incredibly versatile. It’s excellent as a binder in all kinds of burgers and meatballs and as a thickener for soups and stews. Casseroles like macaroni and cheese or other baked dishes taste better with a layer of crunchy panko (mixed with Parmesan and herbs, perhaps?) on top.
Make a crispy garnish with toasted panko to sprinkle over steamed veggies, mashed potatoes or a salad. (Bake in a 325 F oven for 12–15 minutes or sauté, stirring, in a bit of very hot olive oil for 3–4 minutes.) In Japanese cuisine, tonkatsu (fried pork filet) kaki fry (fried oysters) and korokke (mashed potato cakes, breaded and deep-fried) are just some of the many dishes that use panko to its full crunchy advantage.
For frying, you’ll want to use the three-step method: first dredge your protein or vegetables in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, then in egg and finally in the panko, either plain or seasoned. For the best flavor, salt the flour and panko well. Pan-fry in hot oil and drain on paper towels. Voila!
Easy Jalapeno Popper Dip
Easy to halve if you want to make less.
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese at room temperature
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded Chihuahua, Jack, asadero or other melty cheese
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chiles
1 (4 oz.) can diced jalapeños OR 4 fresh jalapeños, seeded and minced
1 cup panko
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup butter, melted
Mix first six ingredients; spread into a greased 1.5–2 qt. baking dish. In a bowl, mix panko, Parmesan and melted butter.
Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over dip. Bake at 375 F for about 20 minutes or until top is browned and dip is bubbly. Serve with chips, crackers or celery/carrot sticks for scooping.
Avocado Fries
The avocados should be ripe but not too soft.
Oil for frying
¼ cup flour
¼ tsp. salt, plus more to taste
2 eggs
1¼ cups panko
Olive oil for drizzling
2 firm/ripe Hass avocados, sliced into ½ -inch wedges
In a medium saucepan, heat 1½ inches of oil till hot (375 F). Mix flour and salt on a shallow plate. Put eggs in a shallow bowl and whisk. Pour panko in another shallow bowl or plate. First dip avocado wedges in flour, shaking off excess, then in egg, then panko, pressing to coat.
Panko makes fried avocados both crispy and velvety.
To fry: Fry avocado wedges until deep golden, 30–60 seconds. Transfer to paper towel-lined plate. Sprinkle with salt. Serve immediately.
To bake: Arrange breaded avocado wedges on parchment-lined cookie sheet. Drizzle or spray with olive oil. Bake at 425 F for 15–20 minutes until golden and crisp.
Roasted Shrimp with Panko and Parsley
An easy “no-recipe” recipe!
1½ pounds shrimp
Olive oil
Fresh lemon juice
¼ cup panko
Fresh parsley, minced
Heat oven to 500 F. Put shrimp in a roasting pan, toss with olive oil and lemon juice. Scatter panko on top. Drizzle with more oil. Roast, turning shrimp once, until pink all over, about 10 minutes.
Garnish with parsley and sprinkle with more fresh lemon juice.
Stuffed Mushrooms
24 large cremini or button mushrooms, stems removed
½ cup panko
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. minced parsley, plus more for garnish
2 garlic cloves, pressed with a garlic press or grated
4 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper
Heat oven to 400 F. Line a sheet pan with parchment. Mix panko, Parmesan, parsley, garlic and 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Arrange mushrooms on pan, top down. Drizzle with 1 Tbsp. oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fill mushrooms with panko mixture, about 1 Tbsp. each, mounding them a bit on top. Drizzle with remaining olive oil.
Bake about 15 minutes until tops are crisp and golden. Remove from oven; cool 5 minutes. Garnish with parsley.
Easy Coconut Fish Sticks
Eat these in tacos or all by their delicious selves! You can also use the recipe with chicken instead.
1 lb. firm white fish (dorado, pargo)
1 cup flour
3 eggs, whisked
2 cups panko
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
Salt and pepper
About 2 cups vegetable oil, for frying
Cut fish into strips about 3 inches long and 1½ inch thick. Season with salt and pepper.
Place flour, eggs and panko in three separate bowls. Season flour and panko with salt and pepper. Mix coconut into panko.
First, gently coat fish with flour, then dip in egg, then dredge in panko mixture, pressing to make a good crust. Set aside.
In large skillet, pour about 1 inch of oil; heat over medium-high until hot. Add fish sticks in a single layer. Fry about 3 minutes till nicely browned on the bottom.
Back in high school there was always that one diehard enthusiast who lived for whipping balls at everyone.
I finally have Instagram perfectly trained (or perhaps it has me perfectly trained … I’ll worry about that later) to show me exactly the kind of irreverent memes I love.
My favorite from this week: “Having not gotten COVID yet feels like I’ve been hiding in the back of a two-plus-year middle school dodgeball game and the front lines have been thinned.”
That’s pretty much exactly how I feel these days as I watch so many people suddenly isolate themselves after a usually unexpected positive result for the virus. Even the president has it again, and he’s not only had his vaccine but his booster! The president sees way more people than I do on a daily basis, but still.
My state, Veracruz, is still green on the COVID stoplight map. Even the state-level map (updated Monday) shows most municipalities in green, with Xalapa and Coatepec (a nearby city) in yellow as they have been for weeks now. I was surprised to see that it still looked so … safe.
Because, while it’s anecdotal, I can confidently say everyone around me is dropping like flies. It really does feel like a reluctant game of dodgeball at this point, a game for which my desire to maintain my reputation among my teachers as good and obedient was the one and only reason I didn’t flat-out refuse to participate. I’ve always hated dodgeball, which in my book is hands down the worst game.
But like it or not, here we are, the reluctant kids in what used to be the back, half-heartedly trying to either get out of the way or maybe just get hit softly so the damned game can be over already. The die-hard dodgeball enthusiast on the other side is shouting with glee as he (it’s always a he) focuses on taking us out one by one.
Exhibit A: late last week, I got a message from one of the women in my group of friends: she had COVID. We’d had a get-together several days before at her house. I guess this is it, I thought.
Thankfully for the rest of us, she’d very clearly contracted it the day after our get-together from another friend who’d received a positive diagnosis. And thankfully for her, she’s had little more than the symptoms of a mild cold, her suffering mostly from boredom. Whew.
A few days ago, my boyfriend and I were supposed to go have a beer with some friends visiting from out of town. They messaged the day we were supposed to go out to say that they, too, had COVID and would have to cancel. They’d also thought they had a simple cold, but a test revealed they didn’t. Whew again.
But then today, yet another friend told us that her son’s stepmother had tested positive. Apparently, she’d been around the children on the morning of their birthday party and knew her symptoms were suspicious but didn’t say anything until yesterday. Sigh.
Getting a COVID test in my city isn’t the easiest thing to do. It’s not the easiest thing to do in most places now that the omicron variant is spreading like wildfire in so many places of the world.
In Xalapa, the test is not free (at least not anywhere I’ve seen). It’s about 300 pesos on the low end, plus the time off for standing in a long line, getting the test and waiting for the results, plus the cost of transportation to get there and back.
I fear that many are simply choosing not to get tested at all.
On top of all that, you have to make an appointment. Even I, with more than 300 pesos and some time to spare, am having to force myself to get the test even as my inner reluctance tries to convince me to do something better with my time and money in the absence of “classic” symptoms.
Of course, in these uncertain times, anything could be a symptom. The president himself was surprised to learn he had it when his only symptom had been waking up a bit hoarse.
So, of course, I wonder and worry. Was that tight throat this morning a symptom of COVID or my regular allergies? Was that stomach upset yesterday something I ate or COVID? Was my fatigue PMS or COVID?
I waited until after my test to turn this article in, by the way; the test was negative, and I live to dodge another ball!
Last month, as I observed the positive (as in good, not infected) numbers in Mexico, I didn’t dare express too much optimism. Believe me, I know better than to dare the gods by crowing about how well we were doing. But I was hopeful when I saw our low numbers in Mexico, even as the rest of North America and Europe were quickly accelerating on the downward slope of the omicron rollercoaster.
Had Mexico’s impressive adult vaccination rate helped us in ways that countries with so many holdouts had no hope of achieving? My suspicion was that yes, it had. So has the continued widespread use of masks.
Everyone I currently know who’s been infected has only suffered mild symptoms. Most are younger and around my age, and none, at least so far, have had to head to the hospital or even take anything beyond ibuprofen. They’ve all received their vaccines, something that’s surely prevented more serious illness and hospital stays.
But there are so many unknowns. What would the pandemic look like if 95% of people in the world had all been vaccinated as soon as immunization was available? What would the pandemic look like today if there were no vaccines at all? To what extent has the vaccine protected us from contagion in the first place, and to what extent has it protected us simply from severe illness?
How much has the tourism industry’s reopening affected us in Mexico? Nothing about the United States will ever not affect Mexico, and it’s not surprising that some of the hot spots here are places where there is a lot of crossover between the two countries.
The next several weeks will be telling. And even though this variant is clearly spreading, I’m hopeful that we’ll mostly be OK since most of us down here are vaccinated (hospitalization under this variant is six times higher for the unvaccinated; 70% of COVID patients in Mexican hospitals are unvaccinated).
Most of all, I hope it continues to spare young children, for whom no vaccines are on the horizon.
Take care of yourselves out there, everyone. And if you get hit in this game of infection dodgeball, I hope COVID hits you as gently as possible.
The president had flu-like symptoms at Monday's press conference.
Oratory is one of President López Obrador’s most valuable skills, in both defense and attack. But there is no talking one’s way around violence statistics in Mexico. The New Year’s celebrations were short lived as the country entered 2022: in the first seven days of the year there were 475 homicides.
Monday
The president wasn’t quite feeling his sprightly self on Monday. “I woke up feeling a bit hoarse … I’m going to do a [COVID-19] test a little later, but I think it’s just flu,” he said.
However, travel wasn’t off the agenda. He said he hoped to visit Central America in the near future, particularly to meet Xiomara Castro, Honduras’ new female president, before repeating his delight at Gabriel Boric’s recent victory in Chile.
On Nicaragua, where President Daniel Ortega retained power in a sham election, the president kept his distance. “We don’t want arguments with anyone. Mexico has always sought conciliation … we are not protagonists who want to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries,” he said.
“It’s the decision of the people of Nicaragua,” he added later.
The restrooms at the new Felipe Ángeles airport had been subjected to ridicule in the press: they are to be decorated with images of Mexican wrestlers, mariachi musicians and Frida Kahlo’s ghoulish Katrinas. “When they visit the toilets, which have been questioned without anyone seeing them, they will say, ‘This is not seen anywhere in the world or in any airport in the world,’” the president proclaimed.
Tuesday
A shock on Tuesday: no AMLO. “As you are aware, the president was diagnosed positive for COVID. He’s fortunately fine, without serious symptoms, just mild symptoms. He is having the rest that is clinically required,” said Interior Minister Adán Augusto López Hernández, who filled in for the chief.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell wished the president a speedy recovery and said that the omicron variant was becoming the dominant strain of COVID-19. He added that it was similar to a common cold and less damaging to the lungs than previous variants.
Later in the conference, the president appeared via video link from an office in work attire. He said he’d continue working, that hospitalization was unlikely, and that López Hernández — a longtime friend — would continue presenting the morning conferences in his absence.
The president takes his temperature after testing positive for COVID, while participating virtually in a morning press conference.
However, the 68-year-old said he had little to fear. “Remember that the most important thing is to not be defeated … we have the Creator and science as protection, and the will to live, to transform Mexico.”
Wednesday
Government media monitor Elizabeth García Vilchis took to the podium on Wednesday, as is her weekly habit. She dismissed a report that the historic post office in the center of Mexico City had been painted with vinyl paint and complained that newspapers had exaggerated inflation rates.
López Hernández took the reins again with the president still confined. He welcomed Education Minister Delfina Gómez and Puebla Governor Miguel Barbosa via video link from Puebla to show the vaccination of teachers. Video updates from Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum in Mexico City and from Chiapas and Sonora followed.
López Hernández confirmed that financial heavyweight Citigroup was considering selling Banamex, the third largest bank in Mexico, which it acquired in 2001. He said he didn’t have information about whether Banco Azteca owner Ricardo Salinas was looking to buy Banamex for 44 billion pesos (US $2.2 billion), but added that the government wasn’t looking to buy.
The minister announced that inflation rates were in decline, having hit historic highs, and refused to divulge the cost of rerouting the Maya Train between Playa del Carmen and Tulum. “I think we have to avoid speculation.” he said.
Thursday
There were books galore at Thursday’s conference. Education Minister Gómez announced that almost two million books were destined for the shelves of the country’s libraries. “It is our intention that no one is left without the joy of having a book in their hands … A child, a teacher, a pencil and a book can change the world, as Malala [Yousafzai], the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said.”
One of the books, Mexico: Greatness and Diversity, was presented by the head of the National Institute of Anthropology and History, Diego Prieto. He said the book didn’t amount to an “official story,” i.e. a political narrative from the government.
One more book was presented by another person with a grand job title: The History of the People of Mexico was exhibited by Eduardo Villegas, who is the coordinator of the Historic and Cultural Memory of Mexico. The book “has an emphasis on the conquest to the present day, and it aims to highlight the resistances and struggles of our people,” he said.
López Hernández, heading a third conference, provided some not so subtle hints to the National Electoral Institute (INE), which has claimed it hasn’t enough money in its budget to hold the president’s referendum on whether he should finish his term in office. “The INE has 830 million pesos [US $40.5 million] in addition to its normal budget, which could be allocated to [the referendum] … it’s a savings exercise that we present in a respectful way,” the minister insisted.
Labor Minister Alcalde reports on Pemex elections.
Friday
Labor Minister Luisa María Alcalde Luján, kicked off Friday’s conference to give details on what she described as the Pemex union’s first fair election: “For the first time [they] are electing through a personal, free, direct and secret vote,” she said.
Deputized for a fourth conference, López Hernández was asked whether he was getting comfortable in the president’s shoes. The interior minister said he wasn’t thinking about the top job. “I don’t sweat from heat that’s far away,” he responded, meaning that he steers clear of abstract preoccupations. He added that the president’s symptoms were improving and that he could attend a celebration on Sunday for the birth of Tabascan poet and writer Carlos Pellicer.
A journalist asked López about the abuse of migrants in detention centers. “There is a whole public policy designed to assist and to accompany migrants as they pass through the country,” he assured.
López said he smelled greed — and got biblical about it — in the INE’s insistence that the cost of the referendum would be the responsibility of the government. “The root of all evils is the love of money,” he proclaimed.
Mexico’s accumulated case tally rose to almost 4.26 million, while estimated active cases hit a new high of over 257,000. The official COVID-19 death toll increased by 148 to 300,912.
Baja California Sur remains the country’s COVID epicenter with more than 1,000 active cases per 100,000 people. Mexico City, which has around 60,000 active infections, ranks second with over 600 per 100,000 residents.
Twelve other states have between 200 and 400 active cases per 100,000 people. They are San Luis Potosí, Quintana Roo, Zacatecas, Colima, Yucatán, Tabasco, Nayarit, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Baja California, Querétaro and Durango.
Orange and yellow are creeping back onto the most recent risk map, which took effect on Monday.
In other COVID-19 news:
• The national occupancy rate for general care beds in COVID wards increased by two points to 26%, the federal Health Ministry said Thursday. The occupancy rate for beds with ventilators rose one point to 16%.
• Almost 938,000 vaccine doses were administered Thursday, lifting the total number of shots given to over 154.6 million. About two-thirds of Mexicans have received at least one vaccine dose, while around 60% are fully vaccinated. More than 80% of adults are vaccinated.
• The Health Ministry is now recommending that people suspected to have COVID-19 isolate for seven rather than 14 days.
Infectious disease specialist Alejandro Macías said on Twitter that the omicron variant “enters and leaves quickly,” meaning that infected people will generally develop symptoms shortly after exposure and get better soon.
He said that a return to work after an isolation period of seven days is “reasonable.” With a 14-day isolation period, “we will be left without people to work,” he tweeted Thursday.
• Health regulator Cofepris has granted emergency use authorization to Paxlovid, the anti-viral COVID pill produced by the United States pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
Cofepris said in a statement Friday that it is the first health regulator in Latin America to approve the drug. It also said that treatment with the medication can reduce death and the need for hospitalization by up to 88%.
