Campeche to go green: it will be first state with low-risk coronavirus rating

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September 26, 2020

Much of Mexico is now painted yellow on the federal government's risk assessment map.

Campeche will become the first state in the country to switch to green light “low risk” according to the federal government’s stoplight system to assess the risk of coronavirus infection.

The federal Health Ministry announced Friday that the Yucatán Peninsula state, which was also the first state to move from high risk to medium, will be painted green on the government’s stoplight map as of Monday.

“The state of Campeche is the first state in our republic to arrive at the green stoplight, it’s the lowest risk level. We have to remember that this doesn’t mean zero risk. This means that the dynamic of the epidemic has decreased enough to allow almost all economic and social activities to resume,” said health promotion chief Ricardo Cortés.

According to state government data, Campeche has recorded 6,031 confirmed cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic and 787 deaths. As of Friday there were just 43 active cases in the state.

Although federal authorities have said that schools can reopen once the risk level decreases to green, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell advised Campeche to “be prudent” and not move to do so immediately.

Authorities in Campeche should carefully weigh the benefits and risks of reopening schools in the short term, he said.

Of Mexico’s 31 other states, 16 will start next week painted yellow on the stoplight risk map and 15 will be orange.

The yellow light states as of Monday will be Chiapas, Chihuahua, Morelos, Sonora, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Baja California, Coahuila, Sinaloa, Durango, Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Querétaro, Puebla, Oaxaca and Tabasco.

The first six states listed were already yellow while the other 10 will switch to that color from orange on Monday.

The orange light states as of Monday will be Baja California Sur, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Nayarit, Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, México state, Mexico City, Hidalgo, Veracruz, Yucatán and Quintana Roo.

All but one of those states are currently orange. Quintana Roo will switch from yellow on Monday but state authorities have their own stoplight system and have indicated that it will remain yellow.

López-Gatell: pandemic is on the wane in 27 states.

The federal government system considers 10 different indicators to determine the stoplight color allocated to each state.

The 10 indicators are:

The Covid-19 effective reproduction rate (how many people each infected person infects);
Estimated case numbers per 100,000 inhabitants;
The weekly positivity rate (the percentage of Covid-19 tests that come back positive);
Total case numbers;
The number of coronavirus patients per 100,000 inhabitants;
Hospital occupancy rates for general care beds;
Hospital occupancy rates for beds with ventilators;
Hospital admission trends;
Covid-19 mortality rate (deaths per 100,000 inhabitants); and
Covid-19 death trends (whether the number of deaths per week is increasing or decreasing).

Mexico is still recording several thousand new coronavirus cases per day and hundreds of Covid-19 deaths but López-Gatell, the government’s coronavirus czar, said Friday that the pandemic is on the wane in 27 of of the country’s 32 states.

“We have 27 federal entities that are already in a descending pattern; in other words, the daily number of cases registered, the number of hospitalizations, the number of deaths and the positivity rate [of Covid-19 tests] are declining,” he said. “These four indicators are generally behaving very consistently.”

López-Gatell said that the decline in those indicators has been seen in all 27 states for at least two weeks. The epidemics in Chiapas, Sonora and Sinaloa have been on the wane for six to eight weeks, while Campeche has seen the indicators decline for 12 weeks, he said.

The deputy minister said that the epidemics in Durango and Querétaro are still in a growth phase and that it is unclear when they will start to decline. The epidemics in Mexico City and Jalisco have plateaued, López-Gatell said. He didn’t identify the fifth state where the epidemic is not on the wane.

The deputy minister reiterated that Mexico is at risk of seeing a flare-up in coronavirus infections in the middle of next month and renewed his warning that Covid-19 and the seasonal flu will soon coexist.

He urged people to continue to observe social distancing recommendations, to wash their hands frequently, to wear a face mask and to stay at home if they have coronavirus-like symptoms.

“With this we’re going to continue having hope and results … in decreasing [new infections]. Tomorrow we’ll reach eight consecutive weeks of a decline” in nationwide case numbers, López-Gatell said.

Earlier in the press conference, Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomia reported that Mexico’s accumulated case tally had increased to 720,858 with 5,401 new cases registered. The official Covid-19 death toll rose to 75,844 with 405 additional fatalities.

Mexico has the seventh highest accumulated case tally, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, and ranks fourth for Covid-19 deaths behind the United States, Brazil and India.

Source: El Universal (sp), El Financiero (sp), Infobae (sp)

Rarámuris march to demand feds fulfill obligations of 2019 accord

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MND Staff

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September 25, 2020

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A group of Rarámuri people has walked more than 200 kilometers to Chihuahua city to demand that the federal government comply with an accord signed by President López Obrador almost a year ago.

During a visit to the municipality of Bocoyna in late October 2109, López Obrador pledged that a range of government social programs would be offered in the Sierra Tarahumara of Chihuahua and that infrastructure projects would be built there.

But the residents of the region say that he has failed to keep his word.

About 250 Rarámuri men, women and children from Bocoyna, Urique and Guachochi set off from the town of San Juanito on Monday to take their grievances to federal government offices in the state capital.

After staying in community centers along the way, the group arrived in Chihuahua city on Thursday and camped out in a park opposite the offices of the federal Welfare Ministry.

Rarámuris arrive in Chihuahua city on Friday.

Luis Carlos González Fierro, coordinator of the so-called Rarámuri March for Work, said the tree-planting employment program known as Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life), the Youths Building the Future apprenticeship scheme and a program that offers support to cattle ranchers haven’t arrived in the Sierra Tarahumara as promised.

The government has also failed to fulfill pledges to build water infrastructure and suspension bridges and provide materials for the construction of homes, he said.

González said the federal government’s development delegate in Chihuahua, Juan Carlos Loera, was supposed to ensure that the federal government’s promises were kept but has failed to do so.

He said the Rarámuris will remain in Lerdo park in central Chihuahua city until federal officials meet with them and agree to fulfill their demands.

If that doesn’t happen, they will hire a bus to travel to Mexico City and set up camp in the zócalo, the capital’s central square, González said.

“If there is no dialogue with the … [Welfare] Ministry, we’ll go to Mexico City and set up a camp so that they attend to us. Let’s see if the president meets with us there.”

Source: El Diario de Chihuahua (sp), Reforma (sp)

Prison coronavirus outbreak in La Paz; 21 inmates infected

By

Susy Buchanan

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September 25, 2020

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The La Paz penitentiary, where 21 inmates are recovering from Covid-19.

Twenty-one inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus at the La Paz penitentiary in Baja California Sur (BCS). The outbreak at the prison was detected after one inmate presented symptoms.

Tests were then applied to 50 inmates, revealing that 16 men and four women had also been infected.

All are stable and in isolation, authorities report, and sanitary measures are being stepped up with testing to begin soon on staff at the state prison.

Family members of the sick were informed and inmates were permitted to speak with them via video call.

These are the first cases reported in the BCS prison population since the pandemic began six months ago, Debate reports.

• For those not behind bars, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for the coronavirus, which are thought to be the most accurate, can cost up to 11,000 pesos (US $492) in notoriously expensive private hospitals in Los Cabos.

In La Paz, laboratories offer the Covid PCR test for 950 to 1,300 pesos (US $42 to $58), according to BCS Noticias.

• According to the Ministry of Health, BCS has experienced 26.8% more deaths than expected this year due to the coronavirus, a figure substantially lower than the national average excess mortality rate of 32.4%.

Aurora Rebolledo, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Public Health, explains the term: “Excess mortality is a term used in epidemiology and public health that refers to the number of deaths, from all causes, during a period of time when registered deaths go beyond the statistical projections in a year under normal conditions due to an unforeseen health event,” she said.

Between January and August, 1,344 deaths from all causes were expected, but 1,678 death certificates have been issued thus far, Diario El Independiente reports.

As of Thursday, BCS had registered 9,809 confirmed cases of the coronavirus which has caused the deaths of 445 people.

Betting on a tourism rebound

Despite devastatingly low tourism numbers due to the coronavirus in BCS, seven new luxury hotels are being planned in Los Cabos.

While still in the initial stages of development, the Los Cabos Tourism Trust says the projects are for luxury, boutique hotels with fewer than 150 rooms each, representing investments totaling US $300 million, Diario El Independiente reports.

Currently, construction is underway on 1,000 new hotel rooms in the area and tourism experts are banking on near-2019 numbers in the coming months.

State tourism official Luis Araiza López says he expects to see 60% hotel occupancy beginning in November when the high season normally kicks off. That’s just 10% under the occupancy rate during that time period last year. In August, hotel occupancy averaged 23%.

And American Airlines has announced that it will be flying seasonal routes from Phoenix and Dallas to La Paz and Loreto beginning in December. La Paz-Dallas and Loreto-Dallas routes will be served by a weekly flight, the La Paz-Phoenix route will fly three times a week and Loreto-Phoenix four.

Mulegé hotel owner Don Johnson bought the Hotel Serenidad in 1968.

Mourning a legend

The owner of Hotel Serenidad in Mulegé, Don Johnson, passed away on September 15 at the age of 94.

Johnson first visited Mulegé in 1959 and bought the Hotel Serenidad in 1968, putting in an airstrip nearby for the convenience of his guests, which included Fred Astaire, Charles Lindbergh, James Arness, John Denver, Olivia Newton-John, and in particular John Wayne, who became a good friend.

He also served as U.S. Consul in BCS for 13 years and was known as a true ambassador for the state due to his gregarious nature. He was also known for his Saturday night pig roasts and stiff margaritas, Discover Baja reports.

His family, including daughters Diana, Sandra, and Sara Laura, will continue to operate the hotel and are looking to make upgrades.

Missing

The head of the State Commission for Missing Persons, Lizeth Collins, says that in 2020 84 people have been reported missing, 19 of whom have been found alive and two who were found dead.

Collins says a majority of those cases are in Los Cabos (48), followed by La Paz (22), Comondú (11) and Mulegé (3), BCS Noticias reports.

Booked

A soldier who is accused of firing shots in the air at a restaurant-bar in La Paz will await trial from a jail cell, a judge has decreed.

The crime occurred September 16 at a bar on 16 de Septiembre Street where a lieutenant identified as Fernando got into a dispute with restaurant personnel, allegedly over their refusal to serve him more alcohol. He ended up firing his pistol in the air a number of times both inside and outside the restaurant. No one was injured in the incident.

Cemeteries vandalized

Vandals hit the old cemetery in Cabo San Lucas which overlooks the Sea of Cortés and the famous arch, vandalizing various tombs and even stealing maintenance workers’ cleaning equipment, Los Cabos director of public services Roberto Sandoval reports.

An abandoned, empty coffin at a cemetery in La Paz. The occupant’s whereabouts are a mystery.

The vandals struck in the past week, Sandoval said, and most likely at night as there is no night watchman. Cleaning crews have already repaired most of the damage.

The Jardines de Recuerdo cemetery in La Paz has also seen better days. A recent tour by Diario El Independiente showed an unearthed and empty coffin lying haphazardly over tombs overgrown by weeds.

There was no indication as to whom the coffin belonged nor what became of the occupant.

Cemeteries in BCS have been closed since May except for brief burials.

Mexico News Daily

At Villa Fantasía, meet Pancho the croc and the Ocelot without a name

By

John Pint

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September 25, 2020

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The ocelot without a name will be released at the end of the month.

Once upon a time, Mexico had a first-rate network of Animal Rescue Centers. The Centros para la Conservación e Investigación de la Vida Silvestre (CIVS) were started in 1988 and over the years they rescued countless thousands of mammals, birds and reptiles. Then, during the presidency of Enrique Peña Nieto, all 11 CIVS centers were unceremoniously shut down.

Wild animals, however, are still turning up in unexpected places and Mexican vets and biologists are scrambling to find temporary shelters for them, as well as the ways and means to return them to their natural habitat, whenever possible.

Guadalajara’s Parque Agua Azul was one of the first organizations to come to the rescue of displaced, misplaced or mistreated wild animals and I described their work in Animal rescue has been dealt a hard blow in Mexico but is bouncing back.

Recently, I was invited to another city park inside Greater Guadalajara, which is collaborating with Agua Azul in these efforts.

Villa Fantasía, located in Zapopan, used to be a zoo but is now dedicated full time to the rescue, rehabilitation and return to the wild of hapless mammals, reptiles and birds which were somehow removed from their natural environment.

Spider monkey “Britney López” is one of many pets that got too big for their owners to handle.

Slowly, a network of such organizations is being formed not only in Jalisco, but all over Mexico.

I asked the director of Villa Fantasía, Yamile Lotfe, if her rescue center was an initiative of the government.

“In no way!” she replied. “This project was started by people like my staff and me who have worked with animals all our lives. We began talking among ourselves and then to our directors and they said, ‘OK, if you all want to work together on this, we will support you.’”

Lotfe and friends found that the municipality of Zapopan was open to the idea of turning Villa Fantasía into an animal rescue center. The reason may be because Zapopan is a member of an international coalition of city leaders addressing climate change.

“Zapopan joined the The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, but Guadalajara did not!” says Lotfe. “I think that’s because Guadalajara is focused on reforestation using endemic or native species of plants and trees. So we went to the mayor and his cabinet and explained to them that endemic trees and plants without endemic animals will fail. You need the animals! So this is the project of Villa Fantasía, to create that equilibrium. For example, this is why Zapopan has a program for the reintroduction of honey bees. We are concerned about the whole picture: insects, plants and animals.”

As I toured the grounds at Villa Fantasía, I was introduced to possums and parakeets, false rattlesnakes, a gila monster, a jaguar, a red-tailed hawk with only one wing and a whole gang of howler monkeys.

pancho crocodile — A portrait of Pancho, who grew too big for his owner’s patio.

I also met Pancho the crocodile who, I was told, had grown up in a little pool too shallow for him to swim in. His owner loved Pancho dearly, but eventually the croc grew so big that the woman practically had to climb over him to get across her patio. Reluctantly, she turned Pancho — now 3.8 meters long — over to the biologists at Villa Fantasía who then created a sort of Fantasy Park for the croc, with a deep, wide pool where he can finally swim to his heart’s content.

To photograph Pancho in his new digs, I had my first experience of standing one meter away from a huge crocodile with no fence between us. I’m happy to report that neither of us tried to eat the other!

Another resident of Villa Fantasía whom I met was The Ocelot without a Name.

“Somebody in Zapopan phoned us,” said Lotfe, “claiming they had found a wild animal on the roadside. When we arrived, we discovered it was an ocelot, one of the six big cats found in Mexico. This creature, however, was in perfect condition, with no parasites, so we imagined these people had bought it illegally when it was very small and cute, only to discover this was no kitten, but a really wild animal. So they decided to claim they had found it and to turn it over to us. This took place six months ago. When we got it, it was really small.

“We decided to give it special treatment so it won’t get used to humans. Therefore we stay away from it and we feed it live food, creatures that it will be finding in its normal environment. We plan to liberate it on land we have purchased along the Pacific Coast between Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta. This is a really pristine area where researchers are monitoring animals, birds, reptiles and tarantulas. We’ll be studying this ocelot through a satellite collar over a period of 14 months. We’re initiating this project because in Mexico and especially here in Jalisco, there has never been a proper study of this species of feline.

“In Mexico we have six big cats, but the only one that’s been well studied is the jaguar, because of its role in pre-Hispanic Mexico. The ocelot has not been researched and it’s in danger of extinction, like the puma. So our aim in monitoring it is to follow it around, see if at some point it finds a mate and if so, what sort of place it will choose for its den.

[soliloquy id="123800"]

“We are now waiting for the telemetry collar and then, at the end of September, we expect to liberate it. When we tranquilize it, we’ll put on the collar and we’ll take advantage to do blood samples, ultrasound studies and we’ll also check its heart.

“So it will stay with us for 20 days while it gets used to the collar, which has a special battery that lasts for a year and a half. We have contracted with the manufacturer, Telenax, for 14 months. At that point, the collar will open by itself and fall off. It will then transmit a signal that will hopefully lead us to it. If we can recuperate it, the same collar can be reprogrammed for another animal.”

Lotfe told me the Telenax satellite collar costs 51,000 pesos. To help pay for it, and to finance their research program on the Pacific coast, she and her friends started a private foundation called Garras de Libertad which is dedicated to raising funds for the protection and investigation of wild animals.

“In this world we have three big problems,” Yamile Lotfe told me. “These are drug trafficking, arms trafficking and trafficking in exotic animals. We may not be able to do much about the first two, but I think it’s possible to help those mistreated animals.”

If you agree check out Garras de Libertad.

The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, for more than 30 years and is the author of A Guide to West Mexico’s Guachimontones and Surrounding Area and co-author of Outdoors in Western Mexico. More of his writing can be found on his website.

Last month was second hottest August in 67 years

By

Susy Buchanan

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September 25, 2020

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A woman braves the heat in Mexicali in August, when the city recorded a temperature of 50.2 C.

August 2020 was the second warmest August in Mexico since 1953, with an average temperature of 26.6 C, 2.9 degrees above average.

The National Meteorological Service reports that August 2019 was the warmest with an average temperature of 27, but two high-temperature records were broken this year. The first was on August 14 when Mexicali, Baja California, reached 50.2 C. The second record was broken on August 18 in Sahuaripa, Sonora, with a high of 48 C.

“The high temperatures that were recorded during the month of August were generated by a high-pressure system in the middle and upper levels of the atmosphere, over 3,000 meters high, which was positioned over northern Mexico since the month of July, and later in August it moved to the northwest of the country,” the National Water Commission said.

For the rest of the hurricane season, which ends in both the Atlantic and Pacific on November 30, more storms are expected to form. However, rainfall in northern and central Mexico is expected to remain below average, whereas on the Pacific coast, in the Gulf of Mexico and on the Yucatán Peninsula above-average rainfall is expected due to the La Niña phenomenon.

La Niña is present when the Pacific Ocean’s temperature is cooler than average, and it can mean less chance of storm formation in the Pacific. It has the opposite effect on the Atlantic Ocean, where between 19 and 25 named storms are forecast this season due to the phenomenon. Twenty storms have been named thus far in the Atlantic, and 12 in the Pacific.

Source: Forbes (sp)

Spending a day at the park has new meaning for Mexico City family

By

MND Staff

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September 25, 2020

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Jair helps his children with their studies at a park in Venustiano Carranza.

A day in the park might sound like fun but for some children in Mexico City it’s all about hard work.

The Fortino Serrano Park is one of 80 places in the borough of Venustiano Carranza where authorities are lending tablet computers to students so they can complete their schoolwork, which has largely shifted online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Jair, an architect, takes his three primary school-aged children to the park every weekday so they can keep up to date with their classes.

In addition to borrowing tablets and connecting to the park’s wireless internet, students can also print documents free of charge.

Jair (whose last name was not given) told the newspaper El Universal that he gets up early every morning to start his own work – he’s not currently going to his office due to the pandemic – before preparing breakfast for his children.

Pasa hasta siete horas en parque con internet para hacer la tarea

Watch this video on YouTube

The kids then watch televised classes until 10:00 a.m. after which they set off for the park with their dad.

“We’ve been coming daily for the internet and to print,” Jair said.

“We only have one computer at home and sometimes the video calls [from teachers] come at the same time. … Printing and scanning is also expensive,” he said.

“It’s not easy, I have to divide up my work. I work in the morning, I come with them [to the park] and I keep working afterwards. Sometimes I also have to work here,” Jair added.

He spends a lot of his time, however, helping his third grade twins – a boy and a girl – and his fifth grade son understand their schoolwork and checking it when they’ve finished.

At 2:00 p.m. they take a break while cleaning staff sanitize the area where the students work but by 4:00 p.m. the kids are back at it, finishing off their class work and doing any homework they might have.

Manuel Vargas Cardoni, director of culture, recreation and sport with the Venustiano Carranza council, said that any students who live in the municipality can borrow a tablet and print out the school documents they need.

“We have 50,000 families with economic deficiencies in the municipality and they can’t take their children to internet cafes. That’s why we provide [free internet] service at 80 places including 16 libraries and five parks,” he said.

Vargas explained that access to the park during the week is limited to students doing school work.

“It’s not a good idea to have children running and playing while others are concentrating,” he said.

Hundreds of thousands if not millions of students across Mexico don’t have access to a computer and/or the internet at home, and some don’t have televisions or can’t pick up the signal to watch televised classes.

As is often the case in Mexico, some innovative solutions to the problems have been found.

A tortilla maker in Mexico City converted the bed of a pickup truck into a virtual classroom for disadvantaged children while a devoted teacher in Michoacán decided to travel to the homes of each of her students and teach them in person.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Area of zero tolerance enlarged to protect endangered vaquita

By

MND Staff

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September 25, 2020

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The vaquita marina, of which an estimated 10 remain.

The federal government has enlarged by 50% an area of what it calls zero tolerance in the upper Gulf of California to protect the critically endangered vaquita marina porpoise.

The Agriculture Ministry, the Environment Ministry and the navy published a decree in the government’s official gazette Thursday that declares that all gillnets are permanently prohibited in the zero tolerance zone, which is 75 square kilometers larger than the one previously in place.

A permanent ban on gillnets has been in place since 2017 but conservationists have accused the government of failing to enforce it, allowing illegal fishing to continue.

Some other nets including shrimp push nets can still be used in the area, according to the decree, and line fishing and diving for fishing purposes are permitted.

Gillnet fishing for totoaba, a species of fish prized in China for its swim bladder, has decimated the vaquita marina population to such an extent that it is now thought that there are fewer than 10 in the upper Gulf of California, the only place in the world they live. The mammals are prone to becoming entangled in the nets and drowning.

To ensure compliance with the fishing rules in the zero tolerance area, authorities will carry out sea and air patrols around the clock, according to the document published Thursday.

The government departments said that anyone planning to fish in the zero tolerance area using small boats must inform the nearest office of the National Aquaculture and Fisheries Commission (Conapesca) prior to launching.

They also said that fishermen must inform Conapesca if they have any interaction with marine mammals including vaquitas while on the water.

“All small boats … will be inspected without exception at the time of departure and at disembarkation,” the decree said.

Navy personnel, members of the National Guard, and officials with Conapesca and the environmental protection agency Profepa will be responsible for carrying out the inspections, the document said.

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessels have also patrolled the upper Gulf of California to ensure compliance with fishing rules. One of them, the M/V Sharpie, came under gunfire in February as it was being chased by four fishing skiffs known as pangas.

Source: Milenio (sp)

Mexico City takes delivery of first of 10 fully electric buses

By

Susy Buchanan

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September 25, 2020

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One of the capital's new Chinese-made buses.

Mexico City’s first 100% electric bus debuted Thursday on Line 3 of the Metrobús, which runs from Tenayuca to Ethiopia. Nine additional units will arrive by the end of this year, at a cost of about US $750,000 each.

“It is the first fully electric bus to operate in Mexico City in Metrobús, and our objective is to continue advancing in electromobility with buses and trolley buses that operate with electricity to replace diesel,” Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said at the bus’s unveiling.

“This helps us in two very important areas: the reduction of polluting emissions and greenhouse gases, which causes climate change, and even though the investment is a little higher, in the long run, it is much cheaper,” Sheinbaum said.

Metrobús director Roberto Capuano announced that the operating cost is 30% less than that of a diesel-fueled bus.

The new bus also promises a better experience for passengers and drivers, offering a smooth ride, free of vibrations, Capuano said. It also has spaces for wheelchairs and guide dogs, overhead monitors and USB ports for charging electronic devices.

The bus's interior has space for wheelchairs and guide dogs and comes with USB charging ports. — The bus’s interior has space for wheelchairs and guide dogs and comes with USB charging ports.

Retractable doors mean passengers won’t be hit by the door as they embark or disembark, and the buses will be equipped with a camera system for security.

They can travel 330 kilometers on a single charge and will recharge at night in just 3.5 hours.

Capuano said it is the first unit of its kind to go into commercial operation in Mexico.

Compared to a diesel bus, Capuano says “the new electric unit reduces energy use by 80% and in 10 years of operation avoids the emission of 1,300 tonnes of carbon, he noted. “Likewise, it contributes to improving air quality by eliminating, in the same period, 14 tonnes of pollutants, including particulate material, harmful to the respiratory system, and nitrogen oxides, associated with ozone contingencies.”

The vehicles, which were manufactured by the Chinese company Yutong, which also made the city’s electric trolley buses, are 18 meters long and can carry 40 seated passengers and 120 standing.

Source: El Universal (sp)

3-meter-long crocodile spotted on Acapulco beach

By

Susy Buchanan

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September 25, 2020

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Crocodile in the surf on Thursday afternoon.

A crocodile measuring more than three meters long was spotted at the Pie de la Cuesta beach in Acapulco Thursday, putting tourists and residents on high alert.

According to reports, the crocodile came out of the water at around 4 p.m. on Thursday, pausing for a few minutes on the beach while people snapped photos before retreating back into the surf.

Civil Protection personnel and firefighters were summoned to the area to search for the crocodile but were unable to locate it, and they suggested that residents and tourists in the area be extremely cautious.

The beach where the croc was spotted is close to Coyuca Lagoon where fresh and saltwater meet and currents may have pulled the reptile out of its natural habitat and into the sea, which often happens when the sandbar gives way.

This is the second crocodile sighted in the area this month. A crocodile that attacked and ate a stray dog was captured on September 7.

That was the 10th crocodile spotted in the municipality in recent months.

So far no one has been injured by crocodiles on the beaches of Acapulco, but in July a six-year-old boy was attacked by a crocodile in Ixtapa when he and his sister were playing near El Palmar beach and wandered away from their parents.

As the boy played near a fenced-off area under a bridge, a female crocodile with young grabbed him by the head, dragged him into the water and tried to drown him for approximately 10 minutes, biting him in the head, arms, chest and legs.

He was taken to the hospital with severe injuries.

Source: ADN 40 (sp)

The world’s most obese man shed nearly 400 kilos, went on to beat Covid-19

By

Susy Buchanan

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September 25, 2020

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Franco weighed 595 kilos in 2016, breaking a Guinness record.

The man who was the most obese person in the world before losing nearly 400 kilos through weight loss surgery has successfully fought another battle for his health.

Juan Pedro Franco of Aguascalientes has now survived the coronavirus as well, according to a report by Agence France-Presse.

Back in 2016, the 32-year-old weighed 595 kilos, the size of an average male polar bear, certifying him as the world’s fattest man by Guinness World Records.

But that was before he traveled to Guadalajara, Jalisco, and met Dr. José Antonio Castañeda, who put him on a Mediterranean diet that emphasizes vegetables and fruits and then performed two operations. After gastric sleeve, gastric bypass, and gastric band surgeries, Franco lost nearly 400 kilos and now weighs in at 208.

And although he suffers from comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension and chronic pulmonary disease due to his weight, he managed to shake off the coronavirus after testing positive a month ago.

“It is complicated because it is a very aggressive disease. I had a headache, body aches, my air was gone, a fever. I was a very at-risk person,” Franco said of his bout with the disease.

Franco considered that the complex treatment he underwent to lose weight helped him defeat Covid-19 because his diabetes and hypertension are now under control.

But Franco’s mother and caregiver, María de Jesús Salas, was not so lucky. The 66-year-old, who also had diabetes and hypertension, died of the disease after being intubated.

“Just because you are a thin person without comorbidities, you are not exempt from complications. All bodies behave differently when faced with the disease,” Franco said.

Mexico has one of the highest rates in the world for obesity in both children and adults, which has been an obstacle in the fight against Covid-19. One in four of the 75,439 coronavirus deaths in Mexico occurred among people who were overweight, and a fifth of the 715,457 who have been infected are obese.

Source: Uno TV (sp), La Nación (sp)