Expat life in the time of coronavirus: hunkering down to wait out the storm

March 26, 2020

Last week, the governments of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and European Union imposed border restrictions and issued calls for their citizens abroad to return home because of Covid-19. Jammed airports in Mexico attest to the fact that many have paid heed.

However, there are people from those and other countries that are hunkering down here in Mexico to wait out the storm. Being one of them, I got in touch with a number of friends and acquaintances in the foreign teacher and artist communities to see who is staying and why.

The majority are longtime, year-round residents with at least seven years in Mexico, some with several decades. Almost none of these residents even considered going to their countries of origin for several reasons.

Reason No. 1 is that they consider Mexico home. Some are quite emphatic about this. They have strong professional, familial and/or other personal ties here. On the flip side, these same people tend to have weak or even non-existent physical, economic or emotional support back “home.”

Marsha Ostroff in Mexico City and Eschwan Winding in San Miguel de Allende are representative of many retirees in Mexico whose pensions would not support them in the U.S. Nor would they have access to health care stateside, an issue of concern not just to “high-risk” seniors but younger expats as well.

Two other contacts with immunological issues have chosen to stay, though they are quarantining themselves for the foreseeable future.

Those living here more than 11 years also remember the H1N1 outbreak in Mexico, which gives some perspective.

In his blog, San Miguel de Allende resident Joseph Toone noted that many Canadians went back as soon as their government called for them to do so to have access to state health care. Airfares to Canada consequently doubled or even tripled.

But even access to single-payer health care is not enough for a number of Canadians to pull up stakes. Although longtime international teacher Joanne Babiak from Edmonton has been in Mexico for 2 1/2 years, the only move she is considering is from Mexico City to San Miguel de Allende.

Another factor has been that their countries of origin have their own problems with Covid-19, and as of this writing, the situation is more serious in Europe and Mexico’s northern neighbors. Ajijic resident Rebecca Roth said she wished her sons in Washington state could come to Mexico as she’s worried about them being there.

Several Americans cited their concerns about the current administration’s reaction to the virus as a reason not to go back, even if they have reservations about the Mexican government’s actions or lack thereof.

In some cases, last week’s calls had the reverse effect, causing people to hightail it to Mexico. Some cut trips to their home countries short so they could get back here. Riley arranged for he and his family to go to the Yucatán as soon as the virus appeared on their radar because of visa issues. They are unable to live together either in the United States or Canada while their family unification visas are being processed. He did not want his wife to be in quarantine alone with a baby and a toddler, so Mexico became their best option.

Although those who responded reside all over Mexico, the experiences they reported have been remarkably similar. Their towns are quieter than normal, and none go out as often as they once did, while they’re doing more bulk shopping for basic necessities than before. One person from Morelia admitted to having a large stash of toilet paper, laundry detergent, soap, cleaning supplies and food staples but says it is normal for her to stock up when there are sales in supermarkets.

Those who have pensions, work online or for established companies report little to no economic disruption so far. Those most affected now are self-employed individuals whose work requires face-to-face contact such as giving classes and arranging tours. Artists, writers and the like are hard hit as Mexico has all but frozen cultural activity in the country.

Almost everyone reports having disruptions in their personal lives, from managing children home from school all day to canceling travel within Mexico to simply not being able to go out to museums, the movies, etc. Many admit to eating too much, spending too much time online and binge-watching TV and movies, but some state that they are taking advantage of the time to reconnect with old projects and start new ones such as gardening, cooking and reading. Artists and writers are putting time into production.

Although the vast majority of foreign residents in Mexico are from North America and Europe, there are people from other countries as well. A science teacher from Venezuela says that he will obviously stay as it is far safer in Mexico than in his home country.

For foreigners from Australia and Asia, distance and complicated travel is a factor. Pei Shan Chiang is a Taiwanese artist living in Mexico City. Her government has not issued calls for citizens to come home and she is not planning to do so. Although Taiwan has done a nearly miraculous job containing Covid-19, she will remain in Mexico City.

That doesn’t mean there are no downsides for Asians in Mexico: sculptor Hiroyuki Okumura in Veracruz, for one, reports that he is being looked at differently these days.

Mexico News Daily

While WHO praises virus response, financial analysts say it’s too slow

MND Staff

March 26, 2020

Deserted food carts in Mexico City's Chapultepec Park.

There are conflicting views on the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic: the Mexico representative for the World Health Organization (WHO) has praised the measures implemented but some financial analysts say that the López Obrador administration is acting too slowly and that the public health and economic consequences will be severe.

Cristian Morales, who also serves as the Mexico representative for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), told a press conference on Wednesday that the government’s decision on Tuesday to declare that the country had entered a phase of local transmission of Covid-19 was a “very timely” one.

The stage 2 declaration triggered stricter measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, including the suspension of events attended by more than 100 people, while the government instructed Mexicans to strictly observe social distancing conventions, work from home if possible and take greater care of the elderly and other vulnerable people.

“We’re very happy. We salute the decision [the declaration of stage 2], which was taken in advance. They didn’t wait until the last minute,” Morales said.

He said that countries where there are large outbreaks of Covid-19, such as Italy, Spain, France and Germany, only announced stricter social distancing measures when they had three or four times more cases than Mexico (cases here increased from 405 to 475 on Wednesday.)

“Mexico is benefiting from the experience of these countries. … These [stricter] measures and even those that were taken before the declaration of this stage are very commendable. They [the government] are on the right path. I think that we’re a step ahead,” Morales said.

While praising the actions taken to date, the WHO/PAHO representative said that even stricter restrictions on people’s movements in the form of a curfew or total quarantine is likely to be needed at some point in the future.

“In some countries, Chile for example, … there is a curfew between 10 at night and … 5 in the morning. … In [some] European countries … they’re implementing a complete home quarantine. That corresponds to the stage that those countries are going through. It’s probable that at some time in Mexico, we’ll have to take those measures. … What we shouldn’t do is get ahead of ourselves unnecessarily,” Morales said.

In contrast, the chief economist of the bank BBVA México believes that the government needs to implement stricter measures sooner to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“The more time that is lost, the greater the consequences will be for both public health and the economy,” Carlos Serrano said.

“We’re predicting an economic contraction of 4.5% in 2020 with a strong downward bias if they continue to postpone measures to slow down the contagion,” he said.

Mexico should be “overreacting” rather than underreacting to the coronavirus crisis, Serrano added, charging that all countries that have had large outbreaks of Covid-19 “say that they should have done more sooner.”

The economist also said that unprecedented measures are needed to “limit the economic consequences of the pandemic,” asserting that support for the “most disadvantaged” should be a priority.

President López Obrador said this week that his administration would seek to support the neediest while ruling out any possibility of waiving taxes for large companies. He also announced that interest-free or low-interest loans would be provided to 1 million small businesses to help them weather the coronavirus storm but didn’t specify how much money the government would offer.

But analysts at Capital Economics, an economic research consultancy, believe that the government needs to do more to support the economy.

Describing the economic response to date as limited and slow, analysts said that the Mexican economy is headed for a 6% contraction this year.

The analysts noted that the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 0.5% last week but said that there has been scant government support for households and large business to help them cope with a loss of income due to the growing spread of coronavirus and the measures put in place to contain the disease.

They warned that if the government doesn’t provide sufficient financial support or is too slow in offering it, companies will collapse, unemployment will go up and defaults on loans will increase.

Similarly, the director of analysis at HR Ratings, Latin America’s first credit rating agency, said that the performance of the Mexican economy this year will depend on the government’s capacity to respond robustly to the Covid-19 health crisis.

Félix Boni added that it is not yet clear what percentage of the economy will be affected by the coronavirus outbreak in Mexico and how strongly it will recover once the virus has been brought under control.

Source: Milenio (sp), El Financiero (sp)

Most Covid-19 victims are wealthy, says Puebla governor

Cody Copeland

March 26, 2020

Puebla Governor Miguel Barbosa told a press conference on Wednesday that poor people are “immune” to Covid-19, as wealthy people make up the majority of those infected.

He said that of the 38 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Puebla, most of them were “well-to-do people.”

“Those who are infected right now, … the majority are well-to-do people, eh? If you’re rich, you’re at risk. If you’re poor, no. Us poor folks are immune,” he said.

Barbosa’s reasoning for the virus preferring more affluent hosts was “because they travel.”

His administration deleted the fragment of video that contained his statement from its social networks and website, but the move did little to stop the remark from making its way around the internet. A number of news outlets published the footage from the press conference.

As to Barbosa’s status as one of “the poor folks,” his declaration of assets would suggest he is not among them. He owns two houses, one of which is valued at 10 million pesos (US $430,000), and three vehicles with an estimated value of more than 2.5 million pesos.

The governor said that his Tuesday meetings with up to 20 citizens are still scheduled despite Barbosa having diabetes, putting him at risk of suffering a serious Covid-19 infection.

“I’ll keep going until I get the coronavirus, and then I’ll keep going from there,” he said.

Puebla has so far seen cases of Covid-19 in San Andrés Cholula, Teziutlán, Huejotzingo, Tlapanalá and Chalchicomula de Sesma.

This was not the first time Barbosa’s mouth has landed him in controversy. He fell into hot water with animal rights activists in February when he announced the construction of a new bullfighting arena after having promised on the campaign trail that he would respect animal rights.

Sources: Reforma (sp), Telediario (sp)

‘Stay at home!’ simply not an option for many Mexicans

Sarah DeVries

March 26, 2020

A photo that is part of the stay-at-home publicity campaign.

In the newspaper El Universal, the political cartoon section shows one particularly striking image that I can’t stop thinking about. A person is in a spacious second-floor apartment stacked with hundreds of rolls of toilet paper, scowling down at a street vendor walking his elote cart down the sidewalk.

The ability to quarantine oneself from the rest of society is a privilege. Sure, people can avoid giving hugs and kisses and getting too close, but I find myself rolling my eyes at the sanctimonious “¡Qúedate en casa!” (“Stay home!”) commands.

They obviously don’t mean it for the people who check them out at the grocery store when they panic-buy, medical personnel, banks, gas station attendants, trash collectors, delivery people, etc. If it’s directed toward people going out to crowded clubs and concerts, fine. Save your beach trip for another time.

Mexico’s response to Covid-19 has been … odd. AMLO’s insistence that people should keep going out (at least he added recently “keep a safe distance,” too) next to city and state officials closing pretty much any large venue where lots of people gather is mixed messaging if I ever heard it.

It seems to me that he wants to both keep the economy in which many live day to day humming along and also fight the virus at the same time, which many other countries have already proved impossible.

Many Mexicans don’t seem very panicked about the virus because they simply can’t afford to be. Baggers at grocery stores, many of whom depend on the tips to meet their expenses, have been sent home indefinitely. Tourism is down and hotel guests simply aren’t appearing, putting many at least temporarily out of work. Interjet has suspended its international flights, and several production plants have closed down until further notice.

Every time I see a similar headline to this I quickly read the article, looking for some mention of what the fate of its workers will be. Are they being let go? Are they mostly hourly workers who simply won’t get paid if they’re not scheduled? How many of them have any kind of benefits? How many are contractors? Most don’t say.

Plenty of people work for themselves. So many people I know have “micro-businesses” in which it’s basically just them. When times are good, they live off them sufficiently, but the lack of any real safety net makes times like these difficult to live through.

As one editorial said, you can either die of Covid-19 or die of hunger. At least with the virus they might survive.

In the meantime, rent is still due, the water and electricity bills must get paid, and then of course there are groceries to buy. Private schools will no doubt ask for April’s tuition to be paid in full.

Other countries have suspended rent and utility payments, which I think is the right decision. It’s hard to see, however, how something like that could be effective here, as most renters pay to individuals, not companies. Banks and lenders could certainly let up on late fees and interest rates, however.

Criminal gangs, unfortunately, have not been very understanding regarding their “ground use” fees and have continued to charge for their “protection.” The absent rule of law is simply no match for the kind of organized economic relief package that everyone needs.

AMLO, in the meantime, seems to be betting on distancing while “out and about.” With no way to rescue people from economic ruin during this time, I am sure that at least privately he’s conceded that the economic fallout could be worse than the disease itself, especially in a country where so many people are killed daily by other causes.

The protective amulets, though … those are just nonsense. And the insistence that Mexico has everything it needs to face this crisis when health care workers know that isn’t true makes me wonder if he’s delusional or just a cynic; in either case, it doesn’t bode well.

So stay safe out there, everyone. Keep your distance as much as you can, and especially if you’re in a high-risk group, try your best to self-quarantine. Snarl at revelers who simply don’t care and are needlessly putting others at risk, fine.

But don’t accuse people of being irresponsible when they’re still doing everything they possibly — and honestly — can to put food on their tables and a roof over their heads.

Sarah DeVries writes from her home in Xalapa, Veracruz.

San Luis Potosí man is sixth victim of coronavirus; 475 cases confirmed

MND Staff

March 26, 2020

Masked security personnel on patrol in a shopping center.

Mexico’s coronavirus death toll has risen to six after the passing of a man in San Luis Potosí and 70 new confirmed cases of the disease were reported on Wednesday, taking the total across the country to 475.

San Luis Potosí Health Minister Mónica Liliana Rangel reported that a 70-year-old man died on Wednesday morning of complications related to Covid-19 including pneumonia. The man suffered from hypertension and obesity and had a history of smoking, she said.

He is believed to have been infected with Covid-19 by a family member who recently traveled to the United States.

On Wednesday night, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said that three of the coronavirus-related deaths were in Mexico City and that the other three were in Jalisco, Durango and San Luis Potosí.

The oldest person to have died was 77 and the youngest was 41. There has been only one female fatality to date – a 61-year-old cancer patient who died in a Mexico City hospital on Monday.

Of the 475 people confirmed to have Covid-19, 352 recently traveled abroad and 110 had direct contact with someone who did, López-Gatell said. Only 13 cases are unrelated to overseas travel.

Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey have the highest number of confirmed cases in the country.

López-Gatell also said that that there are 1,656 suspected cases of Covid-19 and that 2,445 people had tested negative for the disease.

“There is no way of stopping the pandemic but what we can do is reduce [the number of cases], slow it down,” he said.

The aim of the Health Ministry is to avoid a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases so that the health system is not overwhelmed, the federal official said.

A social distancing initiative officially took effect at the start of this week, schools are closed and a range of non-essential businesses have been ordered to close in many states.

The government announced on Tuesday that Mexico had entered a phase of local transmission of Covid-19 and as a result ordered the cancellation or postponement of events that seek to gather more than 100 people.

There were more than 413,000 known coronavirus cases around the world as of Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported, and 18,433 people had lost their lives to the disease.

China, where Covid-19 originated late last year, has recorded the highest number of cases followed by Italy, the United States, Spain and Germany. Italy has recorded the highest number of deaths, with 6,820 as of Wednesday, according to the WHO.

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

Rejected in Baja, brewery project gets invitations from Nayarit, Tabasco

Cody Copeland

March 25, 2020

Baja California may not want the US $1.4-billion brewery Constellation Brands was constructing in Mexicali, but other states do.

The federal government announced that it would halt the project after the public rejected it by 76.1% in a referendum held over the weekend.

But the governors of Nayarit and Tabasco do not share the sympathies of the nearly 37,000 people who voted.

After the referendum, Nayarit Governor Antonio Echeverría García invited the directors of the United States beverage company to visit his state to look for opportunities to invest.

“Nayarit is your home and we are your friends. Here we will always have our doors open to businessmen who want to invest and create jobs that have direct impacts on families’ economies,” he said in a post to Facebook on Tuesday.

“After the decision made by the citizenry of Mexicali not to accept the installation of the Constellation Brands beer brewery, I want to extend an invitation to the directors of the company to come to Nayarit and assess the possibilities of investing in our state.”

He said that unlike Baja California, where the main complaint from citizens who opposed the plant for years was the threat it posed to the region’s water supply, Nayarit has enough water to support such a project.

“Fortunately, our territory has sufficient water capacity, as well as a legal framework that offers guarantees of security and certainty for [the company’s] investments,” he said.

Echeverría was not the first governor, however, to let the company know that his state is interested in being its Plan B.

Seeing the company’s years-long struggle with the citizens of Mexicali, Tabasco Governor Adán Augusto López announced last week that the state was ready to offer Constellation Brands investment guarantees and sufficient resources to build the brewery there.

“There is sufficient water to be able to establish a beer brewing industry in Tabasco,” López told a press conference, claiming that the state has a third of Mexico’s fresh water.

An official from the state Economic Development Ministry, Federico García Mallitz, said that National Water Commission data showed that a possible Constellation Brands brewery in the state would not negatively affect the population’s potable water supply.

“The studies we have about the aquifers give us hard data that allow us to decide if a beer company would have a negative impact or not, and in Tabasco [water] is a competitive benefit, so we wouldn’t have any problems,” he said.

García estimated that the project could generate around 1,000 direct jobs and another 10,000 indirect jobs in the state, taking into account such necessary products as cardboard containers and other packaging.

Governor López said that the investment would be a boost for employment and the economy in the state, which he noted has the highest rate of unemployment in the country.

For its part, Constellation Brands did not readily accept the federal government’s announcement that it was to halt all operations on the plant, but rather issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was “ready to enter into the necessary talks with President López Obrador” about the future of the project.

Sources: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp)

Side effect of staying home: CDMX traffic down over 60%

MND Staff

March 25, 2020

One of the bars that will close on Thursday.

The closure of schools, universities and some businesses due to the coronavirus outbreak has resulted in a significant decline in traffic in Mexico City this week.

The Mexico City Security Ministry (SSC) said in a statement that there were 61% fewer vehicles on the road at 8:00 a.m. Monday compared to the same time on a regular work and school day. At 6:00 p.m., the start of the evening peak hour, traffic was down 49%, the SSC said.

Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum posted a graph to her Twitter account that showed that traffic was 1% lighter at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday compared to the same time the day before – a 62% reduction compared to a normal weekday.

Sheinbaum also reported that there have been 60% fewer passengers on the capital’s metro and Metrobús systems this week.

The mayor urged Mexico City residents last Thursday to “be responsible” and remain in their homes in order to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. She has also ordered the temporary closure of movie theaters, sports centers, museums, bars and nightclubs.

Many have heeded the call to stay at home but for some, such as street vendors, not going out to work is untenable because they depend on their daily earnings to support themselves and their families.

Still, pedestrian traffic is notably lighter in the normally bustling streets of the capital’s downtown area.

The government department responsible for the historic center reported that pedestrian numbers on Calle Madero, Mexico City’s busiest pedestrian street, were down more than 70% and that there were between 30% and 50% fewer shoppers than normal across the downtown area.

To encourage even more people not to go out, Sheinbaum told a press conference on Tuesday that the government will launch a Quédate en Casa, or Stay at Home, campaign.

She said that the campaign will be promoted via advertisements at metro and Metrobús stations and on television, radio, social media and in newspapers.

The challenge, Sheinbaum added, is “not to infect [others] and not become infected” with Covid-19. She reiterated that people with coronavirus symptoms should not go to a medical center or hospital but text “covid19” to the number 51515 to get medical attention from the government.

The mayor also said that authorities will impose sanctions on businesses not complying with the directive to shut. Businesses could have their permits temporarily revoked and also face fines of between 30,994 and 217,200 pesos (US $1,300-$9,000).

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

Baja Sur lawmakers come to blows over political appointment

Cody Copeland

March 25, 2020

A lawmaker shows bite mark following a tiff in the legislature.

Rather than a peaceful transition of power from one party to another, the process came to fisticuffs and even biting between two deputies in the Baja California Sur Congress on Tuesday.

Fighting broke out between Lorena Lineth Montaño, of the Social Encounter Party (PES), and Rosalba Rodríguez López, of the ruling Morena party, over a dispute to install the latter’s newly appointed finance director.

Deputies from the National Action Party (PAN) supported the PES deputies in blocking the Morena lawmakers from installing the appointee in the congress’s finance department.

The argument became heated and Montaño and Rodríguez engaged in a physical confrontation, even going so far as to bite each other hard enough to leave bruises and teeth marks.

The two were broken up by fellow lawmakers and threatened with having charges filed against them.

“We regret the lack of dialogue on the part of the opposing deputies who engaged in these acts,” said Sandra Guadalupe Moreno Vázquez, a deputy from the alliance called Juntos Haremos Historia (Together We’ll Make History).

“We condemn any act of aggression toward our fellow female deputies. We urge them to respect the law and the constitutionality of the state congress,” she said.

Of the same party, Deputy Carlos “Chaky” Van Wormer Ruiz said that “it’s a difference of opinions and we should deal with it in plenary meetings. … We won’t solve anything in the streets.”

Sources: El Informante BCS (sp), Uno TV (sp)

30 people break into and loot Oaxaca supermarket

MND Staff

March 25, 2020

Looters struck at this Oaxaca store on Wednesday.

Six people were arrested on Wednesday morning after breaking into and looting a Chedraui supermarket in Oaxaca city. Security videos show that at least 30 people broke windows and forced a door to enter the supermarket in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The thieves targeted home electronics, domestic appliances and mobile telephones, loading them into four pickup trucks parked outside the supermarket.

Police were alerted to the heist by an alarm at the supermarket and arrived at the scene a short time later. In addition to arresting six of the looters, they also seized some of the stolen goods. Authorities are conducting an investigation aimed at locating and arresting the other people who participated in the crime.

State police said that additional officers would be deployed to supermarkets to avoid more cases of looting. There are fears in some quarters that the crime could become more common as the Covid-19 outbreak worsens.

The looting in Oaxaca this morning followed a similar plunder on Monday night in Tecámac, México state, where a gang of over 70 people robbed a grocery store.

Calls for widespread looting in México state have been making the rounds on social media in recent days, with some posters claiming that food shortages are imminent.

Source: Milenio (sp)

In Oaxaca, government announces fast testing for Covid-19

MND Staff

March 25, 2020

Governor Murat, left and Health Minister Casas.

Authorities in Oaxaca have announced that they have obtained 10,000 Covid-19 rapid tests and that a range of businesses must close across the state to limit the spread of the contagious disease.

Health Minister Donato Casas said that only one state-run laboratory is authorized to carry out coronavirus tests.

“In our state laboratory we can carry out up to 40 tests in five hours with the technology we have,” he said.

The government shut down a private lab in Oaxaca city earlier this week due to reports that it was charging as much as 18,000 pesos (US $750) for unlicensed Covid-19 tests.

With regard to limiting the outbreak of coronavirus in Oaxaca, where there were four confirmed cases as of Tuesday, Governor Alejandro Murat said that stricter measures need to be imposed because the disease could now be spreading among the community.

He said that he had issued a decree for all bars, movie theaters, sports centers, gyms and museums to close temporarily in all of Oaxaca’s 570 municipalities. Businesses that flout the restriction will be closed and fined, the governor said.

Police in Oaxaca city are already asking people who are outside without a valid reason to return to their homes and state authorities will now ask their municipal counterparts to enforce the same restriction in other parts of the state.

Predicting that the health crisis would last 12 weeks, Murat said that “the most important thing today is social distancing and isolation.”

He also said that the government is taking steps to ensure that families have the financial means to get through a prolonged partial shutdown of the economy. However, the governor stressed that people’s health must be prioritized.

“We will overcome the economic [impact] but we can never recover a [lost] life,” Murat said.

Schools in Oaxaca – as in all other states – are now closed for extended Easter holidays and large events have been postponed or canceled. Murat said that health checks have been ramped up at airports and bus stations, and that public transit services have been reduced by half.

The governor highlighted that Oaxaca has four new hospitals that are jointly run by the army and the state government. The new facilities have set aside 200 beds for Covid-19 patients in serious condition, he said.

“No other state has four new hospitals to respond to this pandemic,” Murat said, adding that they are equipped with modern medical equipment and sufficient supplies.

He also said that his government has reached an agreement with several companies for food to be provided to people who are struggling financially due to the coronavirus-fueled downturn in the economy.

Once the health crisis passes, 3.6 billion pesos (US $150.4 million) will be invested in infrastructure projects to help revitalize the economy, Murat said.

Source: Milenio (sp)

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