Government agencies have shut down private medical laboratories in Tamaulipas and Oaxaca for price gouging and selling uncertified Covid-19 tests.
Laboratorio Juárez, located in the city’s historic center, may no longer provide any lab services to the public due to reports that it was charging as much as 18,000 pesos (US $709) for unlicensed tests that cost the lab around 1,500 pesos (US $59) each.
State Health Minister Donato Casas said that so far there are no private medical laboratories certified to administer Covid-19 tests in Oaxaca.
He urged the public to avoid going to private medical centers for Covid-19 services, since it could be a scam or lead to inaccurate results.
The state health risk commission Coespris is working to certify private laboratories in order to be able to provide this service to the public safely.
In Tamaulipas, two laboratories were closed in Tampico for offering tests while not having the necessary certification to do so.
Health officials in Chihuahua also had to tell the public not to seek Covid-19 services at private laboratories in the state, saying in a press release issued on Friday that “as of now, the only institution accredited for the administration of the test is the State Laboratory of Chihuahua.”
The state Health Ministry said that citizens there had also been victims of scams and suffered adverse health effects from unscrupulous practices by private laboratories.
Federal Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said that his department is in no way impeding the ability of private labs to offer the test, but that they must first be certified.
“In the next few days we will announce the advance of this process of accreditation and disbursement of the tests to the private labs that demonstrate their competence,” he told a press conference on Saturday.
He added that there were at that time 41 government labs certified to administer the test.
Right now, cooking seems to be more about comfort than anything else, no? I’ve stocked my cupboards with enough food and basics for several weeks, and although the present abundance of foodstuffs and sheltering-in-place makes me want to eat, eat, eat, I’m trying my best to stick to my regular meals.
I find myself wanting things to be really delicious, and so I made Parmesan-Crusted Croutons, a treat for the taste buds and every kind of salad, and then, as long as the oven was pre-heated, I roasted pecans and almonds, too, watching carefully so they didn’t burn. I like them for a mid-morning snack and they also add a welcome crunch to lots of things.
Then, because I have a sweet tooth and the nuts were already out on the counter, I made a batch of Candied Pecans, which I’ll try not to eat all at one sitting.
What else do I feel like eating? I waver between wanting fresh, clean healthy food (salads, smoothies and such), hearty, grounding dishes like this rich Macaroni & Cheese and decadent sweet things, like a One-Pan Chocolate Cake. My solution? Go with the flow and just make them all. We certainly have enough time.
Parmesan-Crusted Croutons
Even without the Parmesan, these croutons are fabulous. The “cheese food” in the green container won’t work for this – buy a chunk of the best quality Parmesan you can afford and grate it yourself.
5 cups cubed day-old bread
Olive oil
Dried oregano
Salt & pepper
¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Put bread cubes in large bowl. Sprinkle with oregano, salt and pepper; drizzle with enough olive oil that bread is pretty soaked. Add Parmesan; toss gently. Spread on cookie sheet and bake at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes, stirring 2 or 3 times, till bread cubes begin to turn golden and brown at edges. Remove from oven and cool. Store in an airtight container or Ziploc bag if you don’t eat them all at once. Reheat in the toaster oven for a few minutes if they need to be crisped.
Candied Pecans
1 cup white sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 egg white
1 Tbsp. water
1 lb. pecan halves
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Mix sugar, cinnamon and salt together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk egg white and water together until frothy. Toss pecans in the egg-white mixture, then add sugar mixture. Stir so nuts are evenly coated, then spread pecans onto a baking sheet. Bake until evenly browned, stirring every 15 minutes, for about 1 hour. – Allrecipes.com
Try not to eat all the Candied Pecans in one sitting.
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for greasing baking dish
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 cups elbow macaroni
2 (12-oz.) cans evaporated milk
1/3 cup skim milk
2 large eggs
½ tsp. Lawry seasoned salt, if available
¼ tsp. garlic powder
1 lb. extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated
8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, grated (or Chihuahua or any other mild white cheese)
Paprika, for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish; set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt and macaroni. Cook until al dente. Drain, and return to pot. Add butter and toss until pasta is coated and butter has melted; set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together evaporated milk, skim milk and eggs. Add seasoned salt, garlic powder, 1 tsp. salt, and ½ tsp. pepper; set aside. In another medium bowl, combine cheeses; set aside.
Now start layering: Place 1/3 of the macaroni in an even layer in the bottom of prepared baking dish; cover evenly with 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining macaroni and cheese mixtures. Pour milk mixture evenly over contents of baking dish. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake until top layer is lightly browned, 35 to 45 minutes. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
This macaroni and cheese is a hearty, grounding dish.
One-Pan Chocolate Cake
I started making this when my kids were little and it has remained a family favorite – even though those kids have their own kids now!
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
⅓ cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. apple cider or white vinegar
2 Tbsp. chocolate chips (optional)
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting on top (optional)
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Add flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt to an 8-by-8-inch square glass or metal baking dish. Whisk the mixture together until uniform in color. Add 1 cup water along with the oil, vanilla extract and vinegar. Stir slowly with a fork or a whisk in small circles to blend. Scrape and stir with a fork or spatula until the mixture becomes a smooth and uniform batter. Scrape the sides of the baking dish with a rubber spatula and spread the batter in an even layer. Sprinkle with chocolate chips, if using. Wipe edges of baking dish clean. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean, 28 to 33 minutes.Remove from the oven, let cool. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Janet Blaser of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, has been a writer, editor and storyteller her entire life and feels fortunate to write about great food, amazing places, fascinating people and unique events. Her work has appeared in numerous travel and expat publications as well as newspapers and magazines. Her first book, Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats, is available on Amazon. Contact Janet or read her blog at whyweleftamerica.com.
Hotel occupancy on the Caribbean coast of Mexico fell 76% in a week as a result of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the region’s tourism and transportation industries.
Quintana Roo Tourism Minister Marisol Vanegas Pérez announced Sunday night that hotel occupancy had fallen to just 32% in marked contrast to as recently as March 15, when hotels in Cancún, Tulum and elsewhere on Mexico’s Caribbean coast were 82% full.
The region went from 332,000 visitors to just 80,000 in a week.
Vanegas said that the Cancún International Airport is still open to both foreign visitors in Mexico wanting to get home and new tourists arriving in the region, though obviously much fewer than normal. The airport was scheduled to see 330 international flights on Sunday.
“These flights could have delays,” Vanegas told Sunday’s press conference. “We are going to have a lot of people for whom we will need to find rooms in low-cost hotels. We have a total of 15 low-cost hotels, but we’ve also got shelters for people who don’t have the means [to stay in a hotel].”
She did not give the locations or contact information of the hotels or shelters set aside for tourists with postponed flights.
She also spoke about Governor Carlos Joaquín González’s Tourism Recovery Plan, which he presented on March 19. The agreement with hotels and other tourism-sector businesses stipulates that they not lay off workers so that when the pandemic passes, the region will have the workforce ready to relaunch the tourism-based economy.
“All of these talks are going on with the private sector, so that everyone can be certain that they will have a job,” she said.
Nevertheless, there are unofficial reports of layoffs in hotels and other businesses due to the drastic decrease in tourists and the economic impossibility of companies to retain all of their employees.
A senior bags groceries at a Mexico City supermarket.
Major supermarket chains including Walmart, Soriana and Chedraui have announced that senior citizens who work as baggers will not be permitted to do their jobs while Covid-19 remains a threat to their health.
Among those affected are 80-year-old Aniceto Rojano and his 75-year-old wife Inés González, who have been working three to five-hour shifts, six days a week, for the past 10 years in a supermarket in the northern Mexico City borough of Gustavo A. Madero.
“I feel bad; they told us we have to wait 15 days or a month [to see if we can work again],” Rojano told the newspaper Milenio as he burst into tears.
He and his wife, neither of whom were offered any economic support from the supermarket at which they work even though the chains have promised assistance, said that they have felt “useless” since they were told last week that they couldn’t continue working.
“The time passes very quickly [when you’re] working,” said Rojano. “We have to concentrate on our work and separate the products with a lot of care.”
González explained that they use the tips they receive to purchase essentials such as food and medication for her high blood pressure and her husband’s diabetes.
They are not alone in depending on the money they make as supermarket baggers.
Elizeth Altamirano López, a gerontologist and psychologist with the Mexico City Council for Prevention and Eradication of Discrimination, told Milenio that for many seniors, the tips they receive for bagging groceries is “their main source of income.”
Losing their jobs can also take a toll on seniors’ mental health, she said, adding “a lot of them lose their interest in life.”
However, for now, Rojano is remaining optimistic that he and his wife will be able to get back to work sooner rather than later.
“I have a lot of faith in God that we’ll all return to work again,” he said.
A Catholic bishop in Cuernavaca, Morelos, said at Sunday’s Mass that the Covid-19 pandemic is a divine reaction to abortion, euthanasia and sexual diversity.
“My children, God isn’t talking to us, he’s shouting at us. We are going to listen. Let’s know how to listen. We are paying attention,” said Bishop Ramón Castro Castro.
He told his congregation that there were 50 million abortions in the world in 2019, claiming that the women getting the procedure did it “as though it were nothing, as they please, proclaiming their pseudo-freedom, when those are children of God and we’ve murdered them.”
Other cited reasons for the Covid-19 plague include the prevalence of assisted suicide and increased sexual diversity.
“Euthanasia: ‘I’m tired of suffering, kill me,’ … or letting children decide the gender they want to be, a girl wants to be a boy. Oh my! Surely God is saying, ‘Listen children, … I’m your father and I love you and I’m merciful. You’re going down an abyss,’” said Castro.
He also cited the normalization of corruption, theft and violence as causes of the coronavirus pandemic.
“The coronavirus stops us whether we want it to or not. In many countries they’ve already been forced to stop [normal society]. In Europe, in the United States, in China, everything is shut down by law, except for the pharmacies and the supermarkets, and that stops everyone, no matter who they are,” he said.
“A tiny, microscopic virus comes to humanity today: Hey, you are fragile, you are vulnerable. Your success, your money, your power cannot help you now. Realize who you are. Don’t play at being God. Humanity has wanted to play at being God,” he said.
The fire-and-brimstone sermon was Castro’s last in public until the Covid-19 pandemic passes. He told his congregation that for the time being he will transmit services on social media.
The federal government will halt a US $1.4-billion brewery project in Mexicali, Baja California, after citizens overwhelmingly rejected it in a referendum held over the weekend.
Diana Álvarez, deputy interior minister for democratic development and social participation, announced on Monday that 76.1% of almost 37,000 people who cast a vote on the controversial project under construction by the United States company Constellation Brands opposed it.
The brewery is about 70% complete, with about $900 million having been invested to date.
Local residents, especially farmers, have long argued that the operation of the brewery would threaten the local water supply – a claim that Constellation, which produces Corona and other Grupo Modelo beers, rejects.
Álvarez said that as a result of the referendum, the National Water Commission will not issue the permits that Constellation still needed to obtain in order to open the brewery, which had been expected to begin operations at the end of 2021.
The deputy minister added that the government would immediately contact the company to “try to find” alternative options and to speak about compensation.
For his part, President López Obrador said that Constellation has to “respect the decision of the people.”
“I think [the company] will understand when there’s a result like this one,” he said.
The president stressed on Monday that his government is not opposed to foreign investment and said that he would talk to Constellation executives about the possibility of finding an alternative site for the brewery in Mexico. The company has said that it would consider relocating its brewery project to another country if Mexico became too problematic.
After the results of the referendum were announced on Monday, Constellation’s shares dropped by 8%.
The government’s decision to hold a vote on the brewery triggered strong criticism from leading business groups in Mexico.
The Business Coordinating Council (CCE) said in a statement on Sunday that the consultation posed a threat to Mexico’s capacity to attract investment and increased “the economic risk we face due to instability in the financial markets, the [falling] oil price and the international upheaval caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Released before the results of the vote were known, the statement said that the consultation placed jobs already created by Constellation’s investment as well as those that would be created in the future at “serious risk.”
The CCE, an umbrella organization that brings together 12 groups including the Mexican Employers Federation (Coparmex) and the Mexican Business Council, said that the staging of the consultation violated the federal government’s recommendation to suspend large events due to to the growing spread of coronavirus in Mexico.
Coparmex chief Gustavo de Hoyos claimed that, “like in the old times,” people were coerced or given incentives to vote against the brewery project and provided with transportation to polling places to do so. He said that cancellation of the project would send the wrong message to the rest of the world.
“Production of the most famous Mexican beer in the world is prohibited in Mexico – who’s going to want to invest in a country with such contradictions and absurdities?” de Hoyos asked.
The Mexican Institute of Finance Executives also weighed in, stating that the brewery vote undermined certainty for investors and job creation in Mexico.
The referendum was the latest in a series of “direct democracy” exercises favored by López Obrador, who often says that the people are “wise” and know what is best for the country.
The president canceled the previous government’s US $13-billion Mexico City airport project after a legally questionable vote held before he took office, while his administration’s infrastructure projects, such as the Maya Train, have received strong support in other referendums.
Face masks are becoming more common throughout Mexico in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is predicting that there will be as many as 700,000 serious, potentially fatal, cases of Covid-19 in Mexico in which patients will require respiratory support.
Ricardo Cortés, general director of health promotion at the federal Health Ministry, told a press conference on Sunday that PAHO had increased its forecast from 500,000 to 700,000 because of the high rates of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases in Mexico.
The coronavirus case fatality rate in Mexico is predicted to be 1.2%, he said.
The high levels of obesity place Mexico at a “greater risk” of recording coronavirus fatalities, Cortés said, adding that people with morbid obesity are at particular risk of developing complications if they are infected with Covid-19.
At the same press conference, epidemiology department official Ana Lucía de la Garza Barroso announced that there were 65 new confirmed coronavirus cases, taking Mexico’s total to 316.
She also said that there were 793 suspected cases of the infectious disease that has killed two people in Mexico, a 41-year-old México state man who had diabetes and a 74-year-old Durango man who suffered from hypertension.
The wife of the former man has also been confirmed to have Covid-19 but she is not in serious condition, the newspaper Milenio reported.
De la Garza Barroso said that 90% of the people with Covid-19 don’t have serious symptoms and are recovering at home while the other 10% are in the hospital. Three patients are in serious condition, she said.
Men account for 64% of the confirmed cases and women the other 36%.
Among the 316 confirmed Covid-19 patients are three baby girls. One infant in Jalisco returned to Mexico on March 12 from Spain, where she is believed to have been infected.
The two other babies – one of whom is in Mexico City, the other in Yucatán – caught the disease here from people who had traveled abroad.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Mexico rose from 53 to 316 last week, a sixfold increase in just seven days.
Cortés said that the country is still in stage 1 of the outbreak, meaning that people confirmed to have Covid-19 either traveled abroad recently or had contact with someone who did.
Health authorities are expected to announce in the coming days that Mexico is in stage 2, in which community transmission will become prevalent.
As Covid-19 cases continue to rise, the government’s social distancing initiative officially takes effect today.
Cortés said that the aim of the Sana Distancia, or Health Distance, scheme is to flatten the curve of the outbreak of coronavirus in Mexico so that the healthcare system and the population in general can cope with the pandemic.
“The epidemic curve will grow, … that’s certain. … It will grow exponentially like in Italy or little by little like in Japan. With Sana Distancia, what we want is for [the curve] to flatten so that [the outbreak] is manageable for the population and health services. As a society, we must all participate in order to be able to flatten the epidemic curve,” he said.
'With healthy distance, we can continue socializing,' AMLO advised.
Despite the growing spread of Covid-19 in Mexico and the official commencement on Monday of the government’s social distancing initiative, President López Obrador has urged Mexicans not to stop going out.
López Obrador made the remarks on Sunday while seated alongside the owner of a restaurant in Oaxaca city.
“Don’t stop going out, we’re still in the first stage [of the coronavirus outbreak]. I’ll tell you when not to go out,” he said in a video posted to his Facebook account.
“If you can do it and you have the financial means, keep taking your family out to eat, to the restaurants, to the fondas [cheap diners] because that strengthens the family economy and the working class economy,” López Obrador said.
“We don’t do any good, we don’t help if we bring ourselves to a standstill in an exaggerated way without rhyme or reason. We’re going to continue living normal lives and at the [appropriate] time the president will tell you when we have to stay at home but not yet. With healthy distance, we can continue socializing,” he added.
“We have to be prepared and not think that it [the coronavirus pandemic] won’t affect us. It could affect us, the problem could get bigger but we’re prepared and we’ll get through it.”
The president’s advice contrasts with that of Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum who last week urged citizens to stay at home and on Sunday announced the closure of movie theaters, sports centers, bars and nightclubs among other spaces that attract crowds of people.
Earlier in the video, the president asserted that Mexicans shouldn’t be afraid of the growing outbreak of Covid-19 in Mexico because the country is prepared for it.
“Mexicans, because of our cultures, are very resistant to all of the calamities. We’ve always gotten through them and on this occasion we’ll get through it. Our people are the holders and inheritors of ancient cultures, great civilizations, and in that lies our strength. Let’s not panic,” he added.
The video was one of several López Obrador posted to social media during a weekend tour of Oaxaca, where he attended an event to commemorate the 214th anniversary of the birth of former President Benito Juárez and inspected the progress made on two highway projects.
Interjet announced on Sunday that it will suspend service on its international routes beginning on Tuesday due to border closures in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The airline said in a press release that it will suspend service to the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Cuba, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, but service among its 30 domestic destinations would continue as normal.
“We’re going through the worst health crisis in our modern history, which will bring with it big economic and social changes across the globe. Our company has been in close communication with airport and health authorities in Mexico and those countries to which we fly, always putting health and safety first,” said the company.
Interjet director general William Shaw regretted that political decisions to close borders are affecting the service it provides, but said that safety comes first.
“For Interjet, the most important things are the safety and wellbeing of our passengers and collaborators,” said Shaw.
The company said it has been using high-efficiency particulate absorbing (HEPA) filters, which fully clean and replace the air in the cabin every three minutes, to keep its flights as sanitary as possible.
It did not specify when it would resume international flight service.
The Mexican peso fell to a new record low against the United States dollar on Monday as the coronavirus pandemic continues to take a heavy toll on economies around the world.
One US dollar was selling at banks for as much as 25.52 pesos on Monday morning, Citibanamex reported. It is the first time ever that a greenback has cost more than 25 pesos.
The financial group Monex said that the peso is facing “considerable stress” due to the economic impact of Covid-19 around the world. As the pandemic worsens, investors have rushed to free themselves of high-risk currencies, such as the peso, in favor of the U.S. dollar, which is regarded as the ultimate safe-haven currency.
The financial group Banco Base noted that the US dollar had strengthened against a basket of major currencies in overnight trading between Sunday and Monday.
Until mid-February, the Mexican peso had been one of the best performing emerging-market currencies in the world, and President López Obrador often touted its stability as evidence of his government’s sound economic management even as growth in Mexico stagnated.
But as Covid-19 spread to more and more countries and the number of cases began accumulating at a frighteningly fast pace, the peso began to waver.
The peso has weakened during each of the past 16 trading sessions, the news agency Reuters reported, making it the worst performing emerging-market currency in the period.
The price of Mexico’s export crude has also taken a significant hit in response to falling demand due to the coronavirus pandemic and a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, while last week was the worst the Mexican stock exchange has seen since 2008.
The central bank said that the coronavirus pandemic would have a negative impact on growth prospects this year but did not announce a new forecast after cutting its outlook to 0.5-1.5% in late February.
However, Investment bank Credit Suisse and the Bank of America have both cut their forecasts for the Mexican economy in 2020. The former is predicting a 4% contraction this year while the latter anticipates that GDP will shrink by 4.5%.
