Covid-19 deaths, new cases both set records on Tuesday; active cases at new high

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May 27, 2020

The number of active cases is the highest yet seen. milenio

Mexico recorded its biggest single-day increase in both Covid-19 deaths and cases on Tuesday while the number of active cases in the country is at its highest level yet.

The federal Health Ministry reported 501 additional fatalities at Tuesday night’s coronavirus press briefing, lifting the death toll to 8,134.

It also reported 3,455 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, increasing the accumulated case tally to 74,560.

The death toll reported yesterday was 4.6% higher than the previous daily high of 479 fatalities while the spike in cases was up 3.8% compared to the former single-day record of 3,329 cases.

Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía said that that there are also 31,878 suspected cases of Covid-19 and that 235,129 people have now been tested.

The latest daily count of Covid-19 cases and deaths. milenio

The number of active cases increased by 698 between Monday and Tuesday to 14,718, the highest level since Covid-19 was first detected in Mexico at the end of February.

Mexico City has now recorded 20,999 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic of which 3,673 are active. México state ranks second for both accumulated and active cases, with 12,366 of the former and 1,749 of the latter.

Veracruz now has the third largest active coronavirus outbreak in the country, swapping places with Tabasco between Monday and Tuesday. The former now has 729 active cases – an increase of 129 compared to Monday – while the latter has 628.

Two other states have active outbreaks of more than 500 cases: Baja California, with 604 and Puebla, with 574.

The 501 additional coronavirus-related deaths pushed Mexico’s fatality rate up by 0.2 to 10.9 per 100 cases, well above the global rate of 6.3.

Mexico’s official death toll is the ninth highest in the world after those of the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, Brazil, Belgium and Germany.

Just over one in four Covid-19 deaths here occurred in Mexico City, which has now recorded 2,166 fatalities, according to official data. México state has recorded 943 deaths; Baja California, 740; Sinaloa, 427; Tabasco, 424; and Veracruz, 416.

At the other end of the scale, seven states have recorded fewer than 50 deaths: Colima, Durango, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, San Luis Potosí and Nayarit.

Among the more than 8,000 people who have lost their lives to Covid-19 in Mexico have been six people aged over 100.

However, 11 other centenarians, including a 114-year-old Tamaulipas man and a 113-year-old Mexico City woman, defied the odds and overcame the disease.

National data presented at last night’s press briefing showed that 38% of general hospital beds set aside for the treatment of coronavirus patients in Mexico are now occupied while 34% of those with ventilators are in use.

Guerrero, Mexico City and México state have the highest occupancy levels for general care beds, with 77%, 67% and 56%, respectively, currently in use.

México state, Baja California and Guerrero have the lowest availability of critical care beds, with 62%, 61% and 56%, respectively, currently occupied.

Source: Milenio (sp)

How to be a better expat on social media during coronavirus

By

Sam Murray

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May 26, 2020

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Isn’t it amazing how, even during a global catastrophe like coronavirus, there’s still time for Facebook?

Yes, the human race is imploding, but what are Tracy and Tim up to today?

Spoiler alert: Absolutely nothing, like everybody else.

I’ve personally found the time – in between sessions of sweet FA – to set up a coronavirus in Mexico group, which has more than 1,200 members. Pretty impressive, I know.

I’m proud as punch, obviously. When my grandchildren ask me: “Grandpa, what did you do for Mexico during the pandemic?” I can look them in the eyes and say: “Kids, I set up a Facebook group.”

And, of course, they’ll beam with pride. Much like I did when my own granddad spoke about risking his life to defeat Nazism.

But yet, as one of Mexico’s social media influencers, I think there’s probably more I can do to help.

Perhaps, if I could be so bold, you wouldn’t mind me imparting some wisdom on how to be a better expat on social media at this time?

Because on my own Facebook group (yes, I’ll shut up about it soon) I’ve seen the best and the worst of the expat population.

The best post messages are like “keep in there, guys!” or “let’s have a round of applause for the first responders!”

The worst, however, are the ones that need addressing. Urgently.

For instance, I regularly receive posts with the sole intention of shaming others for the (not-yet-criminalized) offence of being outside.

Yes, the advice is to stay indoors. But, as Sarah DeVries points out on Mexico News Daily, that’s simply not an option for many Mexicans. And let me stress that point. Some people can’t stay indoors. Some people need to work. Some people need to find food. Hell, some people literally don’t have an indoors to be in.

To give you an idea of how bad it can get, I saw one expat rant about seeing a woman rummaging through trash, and I quote, “without gloves on.”

“Don’t you know how dangerous that is? You know coronavirus stays on objects for a long time?” she told the woman, completely unsympathetic to the fact that the lady was literally elbow-deep in other people’s waste.

So, with that person in mind, here is my first piece of social media advice.

Next time you find yourself about to criticize someone on a post, stop. Take a deep breath. That’s it, one big inhale. Then smash that backspace button until there are no words left. That’s it, smash it hard. Then smash it a bit more. Just in case.

The last thing Mexico (or the world) needs is a privileged expat telling everyone how to go about their day. We’ve got the world’s governments doing that. And they’re doing it with enthusiasm.

With that sorted, it’s time to move on to my second recommendation: stop reading and sharing advice from untrustworthy sources.

I know that as an expat, especially if you don’t speak Spanish, it can be difficult to know which outlets to trust. So, to help, here’s an example of someone doing it right.

To help promote my coronavirus group, I shared it across social media.

And for the most part, it worked, and people joined.

One man, however, posted a response which really irritated me: “Haha, I will not be taking advice from a travel writer.”

Ouch. That hurt. A direct shot to the ego.

But, of course, as much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. We shouldn’t be taking coronavirus advice from a travel writer. Or a meme. Or even your best friend of 20 years who you love and adore and trust to the moon and back. The only advice we should be taking and sharing is that of the authorities.

We all know what to do now anyway. It’s the same thing the World Health Organization has been telling us for weeks. And I trust them much more than your best mate.

So next time you’re about to share some advice on social media, take a look at where it’s coming from. If it’s coming from a website ending in .gov (.gob in Spanish-speaking countries), it’ll probably be good. If it’s from a news site, question where they’re getting their information before sharing it.

And if it comes from some random, self-important travel writer popping up on your Facebook feed, give it a gigantic, huge, mega-wide berth. They’re not a trustworthy source.

Which, rather neatly, brings me on to my final piece of wisdom: use your social media to support Mexico’s local businesses and charities.

If a charity puts out a call for donations, share it. If a restaurant posts its delivery menu, send it to your friends.

Obviously, there are more meaningful ways to help. For the most part, expats are a privileged bunch and sharing the wealth is better than retweeting a pizza menu.

But, if you don’t have the disposable income right now, supporting local enterprises on social media is a noble alternative.

It doesn’t take much to click the share button. And it could genuinely save someone’s livelihood. Or provide enough cash to feed their family for a day. Or maybe it will just put a smile on their face. Which is more than enough at this difficult time.

In the end, it’s not hard to be a better expat on social media. You can be a force for good. You could even save people’s lives.

But you need to make better use of your Facebook energy. Stop criticizing others. And learn which sources to trust. Finally, and most importantly, use your posts positively. Support expats. Support Mexicans. Support businesses. Support charities.

That way, we can get through this horrible, crazy mess together. Trust me, I’m a travel writer.

Sam Murray is currently a resident of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco.

Government to award 8,000 healthcare workers for efforts against virus

By

MND Staff

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May 26, 2020

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Health sector workers will be honored with awards and cash prizes.

The federal government will award Mexico’s highest honor to more than 8,000 healthcare workers in recognition of their efforts to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Doctors, nurses, laboratory workers and hospital administrative staff will be among the 8,058 medical personnel who will receive the Condecoración Miguel Hidalgo, a highly prestigious award named after independence leader and Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla.

The decision to bestow the honor on the medical workers came after the Ministry of Health and the Mexican Social Security Institute submitted an official request to the Interior Ministry, which was promptly approved by Interior Minister Olga Sánchez Cordero.

“Health workers have been looking after the patients of the pandemic night and day,” Sánchez said. “I believe that their actions are truly valuable for our country.”

In addition to the Miguel Hidalgo award, the health workers will receive cash prizes funded by revenue the government has obtained by auctioning off assets seized from criminals.

To that end, the director of the grandiloquently named Institute to Return Stolen Goods to the People handed over a 250-million-peso check to Interior Minister Sánchez at Tuesday morning’s presidential press conference.

Fifty-eight doctors and nurses will receive 100,000-peso (US $4,500) prizes along with the highest order of the Condecoración Miguel Hidalgo. The recipients will be selected from a pool of candidates nominated by recovered Covid-19 patients.

An additional 500 health workers will receive the second highest order of the award along with a 50,000-peso cash prize. The recipients will be chosen from candidates nominated by staff at designated Covid-19 hospitals.

The third highest order will be bestowed upon 1,000 medical personnel, who will also receive 30,000-peso prizes while fourth order accolades will be conferred upon the members of hundreds of medical teams who have worked together to save the lives of Covid-19 patients. Prizes of 25,000 pesos will complement the fourth tier Miguel Hidalgo awards.

Medical personnel risking their own health to save the lives of Covid-19 patients have already been honored in less official ways in Mexico, such as a series of murals commissioned by the municipal government in Acapulco, Guerrero.

Source: La Jornada (sp), El Financiero (sp)

Court revokes suspension of Maya Train construction in Chiapas

By

MND Staff

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May 26, 2020

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An artist's rendition of section four of the Maya Train, where it will run adjacent to the highway between Cancún and Izamal.

A federal court has revoked a provisional suspension order that stopped construction of the Maya Train project in Chiapas due to coronavirus concerns.

Judges of a Tuxtla Gutiérrez-based administrative court unanimously agreed to annul the suspension order granted earlier this month to a group of Maya Ch’ol people from the municipalities of Palenque, Ocosingo and Salto de Agua.

The indigenous residents argued that construction of the rail project during the coronavirus crisis would violate their constitutional right to health protection because it could increase their risk of being exposed to Covid-19.

But the National Tourism Promotion Fund (Fonatur), which is managing the 1,500-kilometer Maya Train project, launched a challenge against the suspension order, arguing that construction could not be stopped because it has been declared an essential activity.

The federal court upheld the challenge, noting that construction as well as mining and the manufacture of transportation equipment were officially declared essential activities on May 13.

The judges said that there was no imminent risk that local residents’ exposure to Covid-19 will increase, stating that large groups of construction workers are unlikely to be sent to Chiapas because the rail project will largely make use of existing tracks.

Despite the court’s revocation, there is still a glimmer of hope for the indigenous plaintiffs because a hearing is yet to be held to determine whether a definitive suspension order will be granted against the US $8-billion project, one of the government’s signature infrastructure projects.

Fonatur has already awarded contracts to build three sections of the railroad, including one to a consortium controlled by billionaire businessman Carlos Slim.

President López Obador says that the project will act as a trigger for social and economic development in Mexico’s southeast, where poverty levels are higher than central and northern states.

That claim has now been supported by UN Habitat, the United Nations Human Settlement Program.

It conducted an analysis of the project and predicted that it will create almost one million jobs over the next 10 years.

“Thanks to the Maya Train, UN Habitat estimates that between now and the year 2030, 715,000 jobs will be created in the 16 municipalities with a train station, 150,000 jobs will be created in the rural economy associated with the train and 80,000 jobs will be created through the construction work on the first five sections [of the railroad] in 2020,” it said.

Almost half of the new jobs in the five states through which the train will run – Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Chiapas – will go to indigenous people, UN Habitat predicted.

It also predicted that the rail project will trigger a near doubling of economic growth in the areas through which it will pass.

“If the train didn’t exist,” local economies would grow by 0.84%, or 1.5 billion pesos, UN Habitat said without specifying the period to which it was referring. With the train, the growth will be 1.59%, or 2.1 billion pesos, the report said.

UN Habitat added that the Maya Train will help to lift 1.1 million people out of poverty.

“By the year 2030, [the number of] people in situations of poverty will have decreased by 15% thanks to the economic impact of the Maya Train in the southeast region. The population will increase from 12.1 million currently to 17.3 million people. Of that number, 6.1 million will be in situations of poverty. If the Maya Train didn’t exist, the figure would increase to 7.2 million.”

The train is scheduled to start running in 2023.

Source: Milenio (sp)

U.S. government donation boosts Legion’s effort to feed needy

By

Cody Copeland

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May 26, 2020

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The Legion bar's kitchen has been churning out packages of food for the needy.

Unable to observe its usual Memorial Day celebrations, the U.S. Department of Defense chose to donate some of its resources to the American Legion bar’s effort to feed those hit the hardest by the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bar, located in the upscale La Condesa neighborhood of Mexico City, has dedicated its kitchen to cooking meals for local street vendors, couriers and homeless people since the beginning of the quarantine period.

“The donation made a big difference in how much we’re able to cook today,” said bar co-owner Luis Cerón while his staff buzzed busily through the kitchen. “Normally we’ve been making around 40 meals per day. Today we’ve got over 140.”

The donation has also helped them reach a milestone in the project. The bar announced on its Instagram account on Monday that the Memorial Day effort pushed the total number of meals donated to over 1,000.

Bar employees normally load up trays and walk to nearby Parque México to distribute the meals to the small crowd of destitute people who have made the park their temporary home.

Meals from the Legion bar are handed out in Mexico City.

But the extra meals meant they were able to extend their reach to the broad medians of Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, where Nestor sells snacks and cigarettes at a stoplight near the Angel of Independence monument.

“This is a great help, thank you,” Nestor said as he opened the box to see a juicy American-style hamburger paired with bright yellow potato salad.

Reforma’s lanes are usually crammed with hurried, stressed-out motorists who could use a snack or a smoke to make it through their long commutes, but cars only lined up two or three-deep in each lane while he spoke.

“My sales are basically nothing these days,” said Nestor before taking a bite of the burger.

As for the owners and employees of the American Legion bar, they are grateful for the opportunity to continue providing a much needed service in the community while the business is unable to function normally.

“We really appreciate the donation and what it allowed us to do today,” said Cerón, who will happily accept more in-kind or monetary donations via the American Legion bar website.

Ambassador Landau, center, at Monday's small Memorial Day ceremony. — Ambassador Landau, center, at Monday’s small Memorial Day ceremony.

The U.S. Department of Defense usually celebrates Memorial Day by honoring the country’s fallen military personnel at the Mexico City National Cemetery, managed by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).

In April, the commission announced that it would hold a small, intimate ceremony there for Memorial Day in light of the coronavirus emergency. That ceremony took place on Monday, attended by Ambassador Christopher Landau and members of the Defense Attache Office and American Legion Post 2.

Mexico News Daily

CORRECTION: The earlier version of this story stated that the Memorial Day service was cancelled. In fact, a ceremony went ahead on Monday, scaled down to a smaller event due to the coronavirus emergency.

Restaurant’s coronaburger helps combat slump in sales

By

Susy Buchanan

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May 26, 2020

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Necessity has been called the mother of invention, and that was the case for René Saucedo, owner and operator of a gourmet hot dog and hamburger stand in Torreón, Coahuila, who saw his sales slump due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Forced to lay off one of his two employees and facing the possibility of closing down for good, Saucedo came up with a gimmick suited to the current health crisis and invented the “coronaburger.”

“We had to get something good out of this very difficult situation we are experiencing,” Saucedo says.

The owner and operator of Zhunckos, a business he opened three years ago after abandoning his former career as a security guard, designed a brioche bun replete with wart-like peaks representing the virus and painted it with green food coloring.

Inside he stuffs the burger with gouda, cheddar and manchego cheeses, bacon, pickles, red onion, bourbon sauce, spinach and guacamole. He says it took him a week to come up with the design for the bun and find the right combination of ingredients.

The Torreon restaurant's new creation. — The Torreon restaurant’s new creation.

The coronaburger has proven popular, especially with doctors who order it out of curiosity, and has meant Saucedo can still provide a living for his wife and two children.

“People like it, they think it is funny,” Saucedo says. He worried at first that customers might be offended, and realizes that the novelty will soon wear off, but for now, the coronaburger is helping him get through the health and economic crisis, one green bun at a time.

Source: El Universal (sp)

Mexicali overtakes Tijuana to become No. 3 municipality for Covid-19 cases

By

MND Staff

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May 26, 2020

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Baja Health Minister Alonso Óscar Pérez Rico.

Mexicali, Baja California, has now recorded more Covid-19 cases than Tijuana and ranks third among Mexico’s almost 2,500 municipalities for both accumulated and active cases, prompting the city’s mayor to implement stricter restrictions to curb the spread of the disease.

A total of 1,931 people have now tested positive for the infectious disease in Mexicali, a northern border municipality that adjoins California in the United States.

Tijuana, which until Monday had the highest number of accumulated cases in Baja California, has recorded 1,874 cases, according to the federal government’s Covid-19 municipal map.

At the municipal level, Mexicali now ranks third behind the Mexico City boroughs of Iztapalapa and Gustavo A. Madero for accumulated and active cases.

The border municipality currently has 453 active cases, according to Baja California government data, a figure that accounts for almost 70% of the 664 active cases in the state. Tijuana, by contrast, has 150 active cases, less than a third of the number in Mexicali, even though its population is almost double that of the state capital.

Tijuana, however, has a much higher coronavirus death toll, having recorded 466 fatalities, more than any other municipality in the country.

Mexicali has recorded 161 fatalities while Ensenada has the third highest death toll in Baja California with 34 people having lost their lives as of Monday.

Mexicali Mayor Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda announced a series of new restrictions aimed at reducing new infections.

Among them is a 7:00 p.m. closure order for all businesses that are not essential to maintaining people’s health, such as pharmacies. Ávila also said that checkpoints will be set up in different parts of Mexicali at which people will be asked to explain why they are not at their homes.

The ban on parties or other events that seek to gather large numbers of people remains in force, the use of face masks is obligatory in public spaces, travel in private vehicles is limited to essential activities and no more than two people are permitted to be in the same car at the same time.

Anyone found violating the restrictions will face harsh penalties, Mayor Ávila said.

State authorities have attributed the increase in Covid-19 cases in Mexicali to a failure by many residents to observe the restrictions in place. Some residents have even held parties at their homes, they say.

However, some labor groups claim that case numbers have gone up because many maquiladoras, or factories, have continued to operate despite orders to shut down.

The Baja California Ministry of Health reported last week that more than 400 factory workers in the state had tested positive for Covid-19, of whom just over 300 were hospitalized and 83 died.

According to data presented by the federal Health Ministry on Monday night, 63% of beds with ventilators are in use in Baja California, the second highest occupancy level in the country after Mexico City.

The health system in Tijuana, where about two-thirds of the approximately 700 coronavirus-related deaths in the state have occurred, came under intense pressure in late April, with Baja California Health Minister Alonso Pérez Rico describing a desperate situation with a severe lack of essential resources such as ventilators.

In that context, a federal judge on Monday ordered both state and federal authorities to provide all public hospitals in Tijuana with the supplies, equipment and medication they need to treat Covid-19 patients adequately.

The judge’s order came in response to a case brought by a plaintiff who argued that the hospitals in the border city don’t have the supplies and equipment they need to respond to the coronavirus.

Healthcare workers across Mexico have held numerous protests to demand they be given the supplies and equipment they need both to treat coronavirus patients and protect themselves from infection.

Most recently, employees of the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases in Mexico City protested on Monday to demand greater supplies of personal protective equipment such as N95 masks and medical gowns.

Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp), Border Report (en)

Querétaro health workers asked to shave their beards

By

Cody Copeland

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May 26, 2020

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Health authorities in Querétaro have asked male health workers to shave their beards so that face masks fit more snugly and better protect them and others from the coronavirus.

State health services director Martina Pérez Rendón said that face masks need to have as tight a seal as possible over both the mouth and nose to be effective, but contradictorily added that social distancing is truly what will stop the transmission chain.

“If I were a man and had a beard and I were sick, I could contaminate my beard when I sneeze,” she said. “However, if I don’t greet others with a hug or a kiss, I surely won’t infect anyone.”

She went on to say that the recommendation goes for all men with beards in the state.

Proper fitting of face masks has been an important issue at the national level, as well. Federal Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell announced in late-April that their effectiveness is only ensured when worn correctly and urged the public to do so.

According to state health authorities, of the 710 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Querétaro 225 are health professionals.

Source: Milenio (sp)

GDP contraction less than expected; bank drops growth forecast to -10%

By

MND Staff

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May 26, 2020

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The economy contracted less than initially estimated in the first quarter of 2020 but still recorded its biggest slump in almost 11 years.

Seasonally adjusted data published by the national statistics agency Inegi on Tuesday showed that GDP declined 1.2% between January and March compared to the final quarter of last year, 0.4% less than the preliminary estimate of a 1.6% downturn.

The slump was still the worst since the second quarter of 2009, a year in which Mexico’s economy contracted by more than 5%.

The downturn occurred even though lockdown measures to limit the spread of Covid-19, including the suspension of all nonessential activities, were not enforced until late March.

As a result, the economic impact of the restrictions are expected to weigh heavily on economic data for the April-June quarter.

The Inegi data showed that primary sector activities including agriculture, logging, fishing and mining grew by 1.7% in the first quarter of the year but secondary sector activities including manufacturing contracted by 1.2% and the tertiary, or services, sector declined 0.9%.

In unadjusted terms, the economy contracted 1.4% between January and March compared to the first quarter of 2019. The annual downturn was 0.2% less than Inegi’s preliminary estimate at the end of April.

With many sectors of the economy at a standstill since late March, the overall impact of the pandemic on GDP in 2020 is predicted to be much greater than that seen in the first quarter.

The Bank of America (BofA) adjusted its outlook for the Mexican economy on Monday from an 8% contraction to one of 10%.

It’s forecasting a 40% contraction in the second quarter compared to the January-March period and a slump of up to 12% compared to the April-June period of 2019.

The bank predicts that Mexico will shed one million formal sector jobs this year, a forecast in line with a prediction made by President López Obrador on Sunday.

More than 750,000 jobs have already been lost due to the pandemic, according to Mexican Social Security Institute data published earlier this month.

The BofA said that both internal and external factors will affect Mexico’s ability to recover from the coronavirus-induced economic downturn.

It said that the economy of the United States – the global epicenter of the pandemic – is likely to suffer a deeper recession and take longer to recover than previously anticipated, a situation that will inevitably affect Mexico, whose largest trading partner is its northern neighbor.

Internally, the federal government’s moves to consolidate control of the electricity market in the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission and limit the participation of private, renewable energy firms represents a risk to investment, the BofA said.

The bank also said that there has been insufficient fiscal and monetary policy stimulus to lay the groundwork for a quick recovery.

It said that fiscal stimulus during the “economic emergency” period has been less than 1% of GDP and suggested that the central bank’s benchmark interest rate is still too high even though it has cut rates by 50 basis points on three occasions since March.

The Bank of America also said that the recovery will be hampered because the central bank’s loan program for small and medium-sized businesses affected by the pandemic – “the largest program to help the economy” – is not yet in force.

Source: Reuters (sp), El Universal (sp)

7 killed in crime gang violence in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua

By

Cody Copeland

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May 26, 2020

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One of the crime scenes in Chihuahua on Monday.

A wave of gang violence left seven people dead, including two police officers, in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, on Monday.

The state Public Security Ministry (SSPM) announced that an officer died and his partner was wounded during an attack in an auto repair shop around 10 p.m. yesterday.

“We mourn the death of our colleague Carlos Andrés Ruvalcaba Villegas, victim of a cowardly attack on the part of criminal groups,” said the SSPM in a press release stating that it will provide support to the families of the fallen officers.

The other police death was officer Everardo Sánchez Coronado, who died during a separate attack on the same day.

Authorities found five other bodies in separate points across the city on Monday, all believed to be the results of organized crime.

Meanwhile, in Michoacán, a confrontation between rival criminal groups left a vehicle incinerated, a highway blocked and the municipality of Tocumbo in panic.

Despite Monday morning’s violent acts, police did not report any deaths or injuries from the gunfights. The battles were reportedly due to rival gangs fighting over control of territory.

Sources: Milenio (sp)