Mexico has cash to purchase more coronavirus test kits: deputy minister

By

-

May 15, 2020

A shipment of ventilators arrives in Mexico from the US. They were purchased with the help of donated funds.

Mexico has the money to buy as many coronavirus test kits as are needed, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said on Thursday as the country recorded its biggest single-day increase to its Covid-19 case tally.

The official’s assurance came in response to a question at Thursday night’s coronavirus press briefing about why Mexico has performed so few Covid-19 tests.

“Was it a matter of budget or was it a technical decision?” a reporter asked López-Gatell.

The latter, he responded, explaining that “the tests have an objective and the objective is epidemiological surveillance.”

López-Gatell said that 100% of people who have coronavirus-like symptoms that are serious enough to warrant hospitalization are tested.

Covid-19 cases by state as of Thursday. Another 2,409 were added to the total yesterday, a new record. milenio

“What is the limit to the tests? As many cases as there are in this condition. Do we lack tests? The answer is no. We have money for tests, we have tests, more are coming … 300,000 will arrive on the weekend and if we need 600,000 more, we’ll buy 600,000 more,” he said.

The deputy minister’s remarks came as an increasing number of experts are calling for testing to be ramped up as Mexico takes steps to begin reopening the economy from June 1.

But López-Gatell gave no indication that the government intends to test more widely, which many experts say is essential in order to detect mild or asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 and limit new outbreaks of the disease.

Earlier in the press conference, Health Ministry Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía said that 155,932 people have now been tested for Covid-19, a figure that equates to about 1,200 tests per 1 million inhabitants. The rate is very low compared to many other countries, meaning that large numbers of Covid-19 cases are not included in the government’s official statistics.

The Health Ministry last month presented estimates of case numbers based on the sentinel epidemiological surveillance system, which indicated that there were about eight undetected Covid-19 cases for each confirmed one. But López-Gatell said last week that the system is no longer the principal means of measuring the pandemic because it was no longer practical, given the higher rapidity with which new cases are occurring.

Mexico has now recorded 42,595 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic after adding 2,409 new cases on Thursday, a 20% increase over the previous single-day high of 1,997 cases recorded two days earlier.

Covid-19 deaths recorded as of Thursday. milenio

Of the confirmed cases, 10,057 are considered active, Alomía said. Mexico City has the highest number of active cases followed by México state, Tabasco, Veracruz and Baja California. There are also 26,746 suspected coronavirus cases across the country.

Alomía also reported 257 additional coronavirus-related fatalities, lifting Mexico’s death toll to 4,477. Based on confirmed cases and deaths, the fatality rate is 10.5 per 100 cases, more than 50% higher than the global rate of 6.8.

Mexico City has now recorded more than 1,100 confirmed coronavirus cases, although some media reports have claimed that the real figure is much higher. Baja California has the second highest death toll in the country, with 495 fatalities as of Thursday, followed by México state and Tabasco, where 433 and 263 people, respectively, have lost their lives to Covid-19.

In addition to the confirmed Covid-19 deaths, 420 fatalities are suspected to have been caused by the disease, Alomía said.

Data presented at last night’s press conference shows that 35% of hospital beds in Mexico set aside for Covid-19 patients requiring general care are currently occupied, while 29% of those with ventilators are in use.

However, occupancy levels in Mexico City hospitals are much higher: 73% of general care beds and 58% of those with ventilators are currently in use.

Mexico’s ventilator stocks were given a boost on Thursday with the arrival of 2,000 of the life-saving machines on a flight from Chicago, United States.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marcelo Ebrard described the new Philips ventilators as “a grand treasure,” explaining that “it’s very difficult to purchase 2,000 ventilators in the world today.”

“It’s very significant that they have arrived today, because right now is when they will be given the most use,” he said.

In a Twitter post, Ebrard thanked several companies that contributed funds to buy the ventilators.

“Thanks to the Alberto Bailleres foundation, Grupo México, IEnova, Iusa, Bimbo, Televisa [and] Mastercard for your contribution [to purchase] 2,000 ventilators. … Very good news for everyone!!”

Source: El Universal (sp)

Micro-businesses lukewarm toward government’s coronavirus aid plan

By

Susy Buchanan

-

May 14, 2020

0

Small businesses are eligible for 25,000-peso loans if they meet certain conditions.

Small businesses across Mexico have been slow to apply for the federal government’s coronavirus aid loans of 25,000 pesos (US $1,036).

As of Tuesday, almost a month after the start of the aid program, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), which issues the loans, had only handed out 146,621 loans, representing just 20% of the official target of 645,000.

Due to a lack of demand, the last day to apply for the loans will be May 15, IMSS director Zoé Robledo announced.

Experts cite two reasons for the lack of enthusiasm in the program, one being the low amount offered, and the other being that many businesses have not been able to meet the government’s stipulation that they have maintained staffing levels during the coronavirus crisis.

Raymundo Tenorio, an economics and business professor at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Learning, pointed out that the government’s condition that small businesses did not lay off staff in the first three months of 2020 has proven impossible for many business owners.

He calls it a program with good intentions but bad foundations.

“How do they want companies not to fire anyone if commerce and all activity dropped off? The program is headed for failure because of the kind of conditions they set,” Tenorio warned.

The government needs to urgently change its criteria, he said. One of the conditions could be that small business owners use the loan funds to rehire workers they have had to lay off.

Mario di Costanzo, former president of the consumer protection agency Condusef, agreed with the Tenorio that the program is poorly designed, and the low numbers of applicants are due to the inability to comply with the non-layoff requirement.

“More than half of businesses have reduced their workforce, many others no longer plan to resume operations, at least this year, and for others, the 25,000-peso loan is of little use,” di Constanzo said.

A better option, he said, would have been for the government to pay employers’ social security costs for workers, or that the government itself pays workers minimum wage, which he argues would be more effective ways to spend the federal funds allocated for loans.

Source: Jornada (sp)

9 states reject reopening schools; Jalisco announces own reactivation plan

By

MND Staff

-

May 14, 2020

0

The governors of nine states have indicated that they won’t strictly follow the plan announced by the federal government on Wednesday to start lifting coronavirus restrictions on June 1.

The governors of Jalisco, Baja California Sur, Michoacán, Morelos, Tamaulipas, Guerrero, Puebla, Coahuila and Nuevo León said they won’t reopen schools before the end of the current academic year, while Jalisco Governor Enrique Alfaro also announced that his state will follow its own economic reactivation plan.

During a virtual meeting attended by federal Education Minister Esteban Moctezuma, Interior Minister Olga Sánchez and state governors, Alfaro said that is is too soon to think about reopening schools and to do so on June 1 would be a “grave error.”

Eight of his counterparts agreed. Among the dissenters was Miguel Barbosa of Puebla, a governor with Morena, Mexico’s ruling party. “We can’t return to normality on June 1,” he said, because Covid-19 cases are still on the rise.

Miguel Riquelme of Coahuila said that students will attend virtual classes for the rest of the school year to avoid possible coronavirus infections, while Silvano Aureoles of Michoacán said that his government “won’t expose” children to a “forced” return to classes.

Other governors gave similar explanations to justify their decision not to resume classes according to the federal government’s timetable.

Schools could open as early as June 1 according to the government’s “stoplight” indicator, which stipulates that it must be green for them to do so.

Alfaro announced later that the Jalisco government had developed its own plan to reopen the economy and would not follow that announced by federal authorities. He said that phase zero of his state’s plan will begin on Monday and last for at least 15 days.

The governor said industries that were not designated as essential by the federal government, and which are vital for supply chains, will be able to restart activities during phase zero once they have put health protocols in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

“They’ll be able to start operations at 50% of their capacity; we’re going to establish specific protocols,” Alfaro said.

He also said that manufacturing companies will be required to collaborate with health authorities to test workers periodically for Covid-19. Their health should be monitored constantly, Alfaro added.

Hotels and motels in Jalisco will be allowed to accommodate guests during phase zero but must restrict access to common areas. Among other businesses that will be allowed to operate starting Monday are hair salons, daycare centers, car dealerships and furniture stores. Restaurants and cafes will be permitted to operate at 50% capacity.

Bars, cantinas, nightclubs, casinos, movie theaters, gyms and sports clubs must remain closed during the initial phase of the reopening and the suspension of events with more than 50 people remains in place. Churches and other places of worship can open but only for individual visits, not religious services.

Alfaro stressed that people considered more vulnerable to coronavirus, such as the elderly, pregnant women and those with chronic diseases, will not yet be permitted to return to work and should remain in their homes.

The use of face masks remains obligatory for all Jalisco residents while they are in public places.

As of Wednesday, the state had recorded 699 confirmed coronavirus cases, 218 of which are currently active, and 59 deaths.

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

Missing mummies: 22 have disappeared from Guanajuato’s collection

By

Cody Copeland

-

May 14, 2020

0

Some of the mummies of Guanajuato: not all are accounted for.

A former director of Guanajuato’s world-famous mummy museum has accused the municipal government of mishandling the collection, leading to the likely disappearance of 22 mummies, among other problems.

Cultural event promoter Paloma Reyes Lacayo filed her initial complaint with the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) in November 2019, and as cultural attractions like the museum prepare to resume services in the coming weeks according to the federal government’s three-phase reopening plan, the mummies are nowhere to be found.

But as intriguing as a heist of almost two dozen mummies may be, the more likely explanation, according to Reyes, is much less exciting.

“In my opinion it’s highly probable that … the bodies have suffered skeletonization,” she said, meaning the carefully preserved skin, hair and clothing of the missing mummies has most likely disintegrated, leaving nothing but the bones.

Reyes attributed the process to “the inadequate conditions in which they’ve been handled and transported” and called out the government of Mayor Alejandro Navarro Saldaña for the mistreatment and unauthorized movement of the collection.

She said the city’s cultural heritage is put at risk by Navarro’s government, which has taken specimens to festivals and fairs in Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and León — and even a race car rally in the city’s underground road system — without proper authorization or adherence to conservation protocols.

Having served as head of the museum from 2015 to 2018, Reyes said she is well aware that the museum’s protocols do not allow for the pieces to be transported outside of the municipality.

Although the Museum of the Mummies of Guanajuato normally boasts a collection of 117 pieces of mummified remains, including 111 complete female and male bodies, four heads and two fetuses, Reyes said the current inventory can only account for 95 pieces.

She requested the intervention of INAH, UNESCO and the Guanajuato state auditor’s office to safeguard the remaining pieces before the world’s largest collection of mummies incurs further losses.

“The mummies are the face Guanajuato shows the world, and this situation is critical,” said Reyes. “I’m worried they’ll continue to be desecrated … [by] this excessive obsession to display them all over the place.”

INAH has not commented on the situation and did not respond to requests from the newspaper Excélsior for interviews. Its only response to Reyes’ complaint was a January 9 internal memo announcing that an investigation into her original report from November was underway.

Reyes later alerted the institute of the possible loss of the 22 mummies in a subsequent report made on January 21.

Source: Excélsior (sp)

Automotive, aerospace sectors to reopen Monday in Yucatán

By

Susy Buchanan

-

May 14, 2020

0

Factories such as that of Leoni Wiring Systems will be able to reopen on Monday.

Aerospace, aeronautical and automotive factories in Yucatán will resume operations on Monday, announced Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal, who said necessary hygiene protocols in this sector have been put in place to safeguard the health of workers and the public in general.

Next up will be the construction industry, which will work on developing and implementing sanitary protocols in order to reopen on June 1.

“Health has priority over any other issue, but we are also aware of the importance that the economy has in guaranteeing income for families. That is why we are going to start with the opening of activities in these sectors. We know that everyone wants to open up again but we have to do it gradually,” said the governor, who held his first virtual meeting with members of the Yucatán Business Council to discuss plans to reopen businesses.

“We cannot throw away what we have done in the last two months. In the next few days, the peak moments of the coronavirus are coming, and we all have to act responsibly, as we have done thus far,” he continued.

The 90-minute meeting was the first in a series of planned daily discussions with experts and stakeholders on how to open various sectors of the economy.

On May 15 the group will discuss the agricultural industry, the next day it will take on the construction industry, followed by commerce and tourism, professional and religious organizations, and scientific and educational institutions.

The series of meetings will culminate in a May 22 announcement of a comprehensive return-to-work plan for each of the sectors.

Businesses that open before they are permitted to do so will be met with sanctions including closures and fines, Vila Dosal cautioned, advocating patience in the name of health.

As of Wednesday, Yucatán had seen 924 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 54 deaths.

Source: Jornada (sp)

Tackling insecurity requires armed forces’ discipline, professionalism: AMLO

By

MND Staff

-

May 14, 2020

0

At the July 2019 inauguration of the National Guard, Mexico's top military commanders flank the president. The man actually responsible for the Guard, Security Secretary Alfonso Durazo, stands behind them.

Combating insecurity and violence requires the discipline and professionalism of the army and navy, President López Obrador said on Thursday, three days after he published a decree ordering the armed forces to continue carrying out public security tasks for another four years.

Speaking at his morning press conference, López Obrador brushed off criticism that he is militarizing the country, asserting that he is convinced that the armed forces are needed to reduce the high levels of violent crime that plague Mexico.

“Even though they criticize me, [saying] I want to militarize the country, I’m going to continue insisting that the armed forces must help us in public security tasks,” he said.

López Obrador said the only thing that could change his mind would be proof that the military had committed human rights abuses while carrying out public security tasks on his watch.

The armed forces have committed or have been accused of committing a range of human rights violations in the past, including an army massacre of 22 presumed criminals in Tlatlaya, México state, in 2014.

López Obrador said that he was also convinced that the National Guard, the new security force that was supposed to be the centerpiece of his administration’s security strategy, must have a “close relationship” with the military.

“I don’t want … the National Guard to end up like the Federal Police because it would be a complete failure,” he said.

According to some analysts, the president has already conceded that the new security force has failed by publishing Monday’s decree ordering the military to continue carrying out public security tasks until the final year of his six-year term.

Meanwhile, the Mexico office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the decree doesn’t establish sufficient mechanisms for oversight of the military as it carries out the public security tasks the president has entrusted it with.

“The agreement establishes that this supervision will be carried out by the internal control body … of the armed forces, … which is insufficient to guarantee effective supervision of an external nature,” the UN office said.

It said the decree contradicts articles in the constitutional reform that created the National Guard, which stipulate that public security tasks must be carried out under civilian command. The decree also fails “to honor the principles of transparency and accountability that must govern the conduct of all security forces including the armed forces,” the UN office said.

Mexico's National Guard — Mexico’s National Guard: ‘nothing more than a branch of the military.’

The president’s decision also undermines his attacks on his two most recent predecessors, who both used the armed forces to combat Mexico’s notoriously violent criminal organizations.

López Obrador has repeatedly blamed the high levels of violence that plague Mexico today on the security strategy that was implemented by former president Felipe Calderón – who launched the so-called war on drugs in late 2006 – and perpetuated by Enrique Peña Nieto, who left office in 2018.

Despite pledging that his administration would reduce violence by addressing its root causes through social programs – the so-called “hugs, not bullets” approach – AMLO, as the president is known, is now perpetuating the militarized model himself, seemingly acknowledging that what he has tried to date has not worked.

Indeed, violence remains at alarmingly high levels even as the country hunkers down amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But AMLO’s current confidence in the military belies his attitude in the past, said Héctor de Mauleón, a columnist for the newspaper El Universal, who pointed out that López Obrador was highly critical of the armed forces before he became president.

“The loss of life unleashed since the government of Felipe Calderón ordered the war against narcos, the abuses of power, the violations of human rights, the extrajudicial killings, the enforced disappearances, became … the core of López Obrador’s discourse,” de Mauleón wrote this week.

Before he was president, AMLO declared “time and again” that the military should be taken off the streets and return to their barracks, he said.

“He was frequently heard saying that the army was ‘to defend national sovereignty’ not carry out police work,” de Mauleón wrote.

However, during López Obrador’s presidency, the role of the military has widened even further, the columnist pointed out. Not only is it carrying out public security tasks, it’s also in charge of customs, building the new Santa Lucía airport and delivering petroleum, de Mauleón said.

The army now is the same “inept, negligent and complicit” army that AMLO railed against, adding that the presidential decree published on Monday is not congruent with the expectations López Obrador sowed for years.

“The army in the streets led the country to one of the most painful and bloody periods of its history. López Obrador will keep it there, betraying the words that he said for years, betraying those who voted for him,” de Mauleón wrote.

But from the perspective of Alejandro Hope, a prominent security analyst, AMLO’s legalization of the use of the military in public security tasks is no surprise.

Also writing in El Universal, Hope said that the presidential decree was destined to be published since last year’s approval of the reform that created the National Guard. The reform states that the president has the authority to use the military for public security tasks for a period of five years as the National Guard develops its structure and capacities.

The approval of the reform loaded the gun and all that remained was to pull the trigger, Hope wrote.

He also said that publication of the decree was not surprising given that the National Guard has not recruited a single member on its own. About 80% of its members formerly belonged to the army or navy and the remainder are former Federal Police officers, Hope said.

He said that practically all of the National Guard’s equipment came from the armed forces and its barracks were built by the Ministry of Defense (Sedena) on land donated by Sedena and not the Security Ministry which, on paper, is in charge of the new security force.

“In practice, the National Guard is nothing more than a branch of the army. … It was only a matter of time before the farce was revealed,” Hope wrote.

The “central objective” of the 2019 constitutional reform was not to create the National Guard but to institutionalize military participation in public security tasks, he said.

“The open and direct use of the armed forces in police tasks is what both the president and the military commanders wanted from the beginning. They didn’t opt for this route because the National Guard ‘failed’: that has been nothing but a distraction.”

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

Economic reactivation plan welcomed but it’s short on clarity and detail: critics

By

MND Staff

-

May 14, 2020

0

The stoplight system indicates restrictions regarding activities in the left column. From the top they are public health measures, labor, public spaces, vulnerable persons and schools.

Business groups and analysts have welcomed the government’s plan to begin reopening the economy but not without criticism over a lack of clarity and detail.

The government revealed a three-phase plan Wednesday for the eventual lifting of coronavirus restrictions and a color-coded “stoplight” system to determine each state’s readiness to return to what is being called a “new normal.”

The plan stipulates that starting June 1 social distancing measures will be gradually lifted on a state by state basis depending on the severity of their outbreaks.

However, the president of the Mexican Employers Federation (Coparmex) said the plan is short on clarity particularly with respect to the criteria that will be used to determine which color lights are assigned to each of Mexico’s 32 states.

(States will be assigned a red, orange, yellow or green light on a weekly basis, with each color determining which coronavirus mitigation restrictions can be lifted.)

Coparmex president de Hoyos questioned how municipalities' status will be indicated when the only map shows only the states. — Coparmex president de Hoyos questioned the criteria that will determine the color of lights assigned.

“We agree with the need to have a plan for a gradual and staggered reopening. However, the content presented today is insufficient in order to have clarity in the procedures,” said Coparmex chief Gustavo de Hoyos.

He also said that the government failed to make it clear whether the same color light will apply to an entire state or whether different colors will apply to different municipalities depending on the size of their coronavirus outbreaks.

“Companies need clear specifications in order to be able to prepare to restart activities immediately after the health authorities say they can,” de Hoyos said.

The Coparmex president also said the plan to reopen the economy next week in 269 coronavirus-free municipalities will only have a “minimal” impact on the economy because only 1% of businesses are located in them.

For his part, the president of the National Chamber for Industrial Transformation said that adding automotive production, construction and mining to the list of essential activities was a positive move but charged that beer production should also have been designated as essential.

Enoch Castellanos also said that small and medium-sized businesses need more support from the government to help them survive closure orders and the coronavirus-induced economic downturn.

The new color-coded map shows the alert level and a trending indicator by state. — The stoplight map shows the alert level and a trending indicator by state.

The director of analysis at the Monex financial group, described the plan outlined on Wednesday as “disjointed.”

The announcement of steps to reopen the economy is “positive news” but “there are still a lot of [unanswered] questions,” Carlos González Tabares said.

“I believe that a lot of details are missing,” González said, explaining that there is a lack of clarity about how new outbreaks will be mitigated as more and more people return to their normal daily lives. “The reopening has to be very cautious,” he said.

Raymundo Tenorio, an economist and emeritus professor of the Tec. de Monterrey University, said that it appears that the “stoplight” system plan was made on the fly, asserting that the government needs to think about how supply chains will work if businesses are open in one state but not another.

José Luis de la Cruz, general director of the Institute for Industrial Development and Economic Growth, a think tank, had a more positive view. He said the strategy is “positive and opportune because it allows companies to make an estimate of the time and stages in which they will be able to open.”

“The services sector is expected to reopen in September so [companies] can assess if they can hold out until that date or if they will have to dismiss staff and make adjustments,” he said.

Economist de la Torre: plan looks improvised.

However, while the government has a plan to allow businesses to reopen gradually, it doesn’t have a solid plan to support them financially through the crisis with measures such as tax breaks, de la Cruz said.

Rodolfo de la Torre, director of social development at the Espinosa Yglesias Study Center think tank, described the government’s plan as “improvised,” claiming that it rushed to develop it due to the heavy loss of jobs last month and the prediction that as many as 10.7 million additional people could be pushed into poverty as a result of the measures put in place to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

“Job losses could reach 1 million in May and if the stoppage due to the pandemic continues we could reach 1.5 million,” he said.

De la Torre also said the government should have provided income support for people who lost their jobs or who are unable to stay at home due to their economic circumstances. He expressed skepticism that the economy will recover quickly once the coronavirus mitigation restrictions are lifted, as Finance Ministry officials have claimed will occur.

“Suggesting that there will be a quick rebound in [economic] activity is far removed from reality,” de la Torre said, especially considering that the government hasn’t provided resources enabling “people and companies to resist” the coronavirus crisis.

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

Woman with coronavirus gives birth to triplets but only one has survived

By

Susy Buchanan

-

May 14, 2020

0

The hospital where 46 staff were sent home in case of coronavirus.

After a woman with coronavirus gave birth to triplets in Guadalupe, Zacatecas, last week two of the babies died and 46 members of the hospital’s medical staff were sent home to self-isolate due to fears they may have been exposed to the virus.

The 29-year-old woman from Sombrerete traveled to the Zacatecas Women’s Hospital after she started going into premature labor on May 6, Health Ministry spokesman Jesús Gerardo López Longoria said.

The woman showed no signs of coronavirus when she was admitted.

Medical staff attempted to inhibit labor as the pregnancy was not to term, but were unsuccessful.

As labor progressed into Friday, doctors opted to perform a cesarean section and the three premature infants were sent to the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, where two of them died.

All three babies tested negative for coronavirus; the two who died perished from pulmonary insufficiency due to their premature birth.

After surgery, medical staff noticed that the woman’s blood oxygen levels were low and tested her for coronavirus. The results came back positive.

The woman was transferred to another hospital’s dedicated Covid unit where she remains in stable condition.

However, during the four days she was at the Women’s Hospital the patient came into contact with many hospital personnel.

As a result, three obstetrician-gynecologists, 16 nurses, an x-ray technician, two orderlies, three janitors and 21 medical residents have been asked to self-isolate at home until Friday when they will be tested for the coronavirus before being allowed to return to work. None has reported symptoms thus far. The Ministry of Health has sent 15 nurses to help cover for those in quarantine.

Although the Women’s Hospital does not treat coronavirus patients, staff know that they could come into contact with asymptomatic patients at any time.

“Being a medical unit, the risk exists and health personnel know it. No one on the staff can say that they are not informed about the disease and its scope,” López said.

He called the experience a teaching moment and an opportunity “for the hospital to review protocols and ensure that they do not have weaknesses in the processes so that a similar event does not occur.”

Source: NTR Zacatecas (sp), El Universal (sp)

Hard-hit Mexico City has no plans yet to reopen economy

By

Cody Copeland

-

May 14, 2020

0

Mayor Sheinbaum speaks at the president's morning press conference.

When state jurisdictions lift coronavirus mitigation measures as early as May 18, Mexico City will not likely be among them.

There are no plans to begin reopening the economy on June 1 as previously thought, according to Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum.

“Not yet. We’re going to make an announcement. We’re getting a plan ready,” she said at President López Obrador’s Thursday morning news conference.

The federal government released a color-coded, three-phase reopening plan on Wednesday. The first phase will begin as soon as May 18 for some areas, but the hard-hit capital is not ready for such a move.

Sheinbaum said her administration is still working on a plan to bring the city into what the federal government has termed “the new normal” despite Thursday’s leak of a government document detailing reopenings scheduled for June 15. The document also outlines school reopenings in August and September.

The city’s public relations department said the document was merely a draft that was presented with others to Sheinbaum as a possible plan for reopening.

The document proposed a reopening of businesses at a third of their normal capacity in mid-June. It would require the use of personal protective equipment, informational signage, sanitization of workspaces and transmission monitoring at those allowed to reopen.

It also proposed that churches, courts, theaters, cinemas and sporting events without spectators reinitiate services on June 15, and the reopening of corporate offices and government departments that do not serve the public directly in August.

The drafted plan stipulated that businesses including gyms, bars and nightclubs remain closed until September, but restaurants and department stores should be able to open in mid-June. The document recommends that businesses stagger their scheduling in order not to saturate public transportation.

The proposed plan also included fixed days of the week on which parks and shopping centers would be reserved exclusively for vulnerable sectors of the population.

The draft also proposes a 2,600-peso (US $107) monthly stipend to support low-income citizens.

But Sheinbaum reiterated that the document was nothing more than the result of a brainstorm and that the official plan is still in the works.

“Everything will stay the same for the time being,” she said.

Mexico City leads the country in terms of Covid-19 deaths with 1,057 as of Wednesday evening.

Source: La Jornada (sp)

Staff at three hospitals mount protests to demand medical supplies

By

Cody Copeland

-

May 14, 2020

0

Frontline medical professionals at three hospitals have protested a shortage of supplies for treating patients infected with Covid-19.

Around 100 doctors, nurses, orderlies and custodians at a Social Security Institute (IMSS) hospital in Texcoco, México state, blocked a highway on Wednesday to demand they be properly equipped to face the pandemic.

Nurses complained of being forced to treat up to 20 patients at a time, a task which, combined with the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), has led to at least five cases and one death from the disease among their colleagues, they said.

As many as 45 doctors and nurses at a community hospital in San Jacinto Tlacotepec, Oaxaca, have been on strike for almost the entirety of the quarantine period. The hospital serves a region of about 30,000 people.

Residents blocked roads and closed the local offices of the state Health Ministry on Wednesday to protest the situation.

The hospital employees said they will return to work once health authorities provide them with the basic medications and equipment they need to carry out their work safely, said union leader Mario Félix Pacheco.

A municipal councilor said local governments sent a letter to President López Obrador explaining that the indigenous communities suffer from severe shortages of medical supplies.

“We view with rage and indignation the lack of feeling for the unionized personnel that work at the hospital, … as they’ve gone on strike for weeks …” he said.

In addition to basic medications and PPE, the striking staff have demanded that the hospital hire pediatricians, a surgeon and an anesthesiologist.

In Mexico City, about 30 health workers at the La Raza Hospital for Infectious Diseases obtained results after they blocked a highway this week to protest a shortage of protective equipment. IMSS delivered 1,000 N95 face masks to the medical center on Wednesday and said another 500 masks were on their way.

Hospital administrator Efraín Arizmendi Uribe said the entire facility will be regularly sanitized beginning on Wednesday and promised that PPE and medications will remain permanently stocked through the duration of the pandemic.

He also ordered the immediate disbursement of recently arrived coveralls and face shields to the hospital employees that need them, and said he will conduct a tour of the facility in the coming days to hear the petitions and suggestions of his staff.

Health workers have protested shortages of PPE and other supplies since the beginning of the pandemic, demanding the tools they need not only to save patients’ lives, but also to protect their own.

“We don’t want another colleague to become infected,” said the nurses protesting in Texcoco.

Sources: Milenio (sp), La Jornada (sp), Reforma (sp)