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Doctor attacked in Oaxaca, nurse evicted in Sonora over coronavirus fears

By
Susy Buchanan
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Nurse Iván Portillo moves into new digs after he was evicted.
Nurse Iván Portillo moves into new digs after he was evicted.

An eviction and a bleach attack are two of the latest forms of harassment medical staff around Mexico are facing as members of the public shun them or worse for fear of contracting the coronavirus. 

A young doctor in Oaxaca reported that one of his patients brought a syringe filled with bleach to an appointment, and once it was over reprimanded him for working when he “must be coronavirus-positive” and squirted his scrubs with bleach to “disinfect” him. 

The doctor has been practicing in the small town of Tezoatlán de Segura y Luna in southwest Oaxaca’s Mixtec region for the past three years. 

“You cannot attack those who help care for you,” he said in a letter of complaint to the state’s Ministry of Health. 

Oaxaca was the first state to amend the criminal code to call for jail time for those who attack medical personnel, although some doctors and nurses are reluctant to report attacks to authorities for fear of further retaliation. 

Oaxaca’s Attorney General’s Office has been asked to investigate alleged attacks on medical personnel and to punish those found responsible.

In Hermosillo, where authorities have also condemned attacks on medical personnel, nurse Iván Portillo posted on Facebook that his landlord had evicted him from his home due to fears he could spread the virus. 

On Sunday, Portillo said his landlord sent him a WhatsApp message asking him to vacate his second-floor apartment in the home due to the risk of infection. 

He tried to protest the decision and explained sanitary precautions taken at the hospital where he works but to no avail. 

Portillo has since moved into a shelter set up for government health workers who may need to self-isolate and healthcare workers in general. The 30-bed hostel is sponsored by Sonoran families and businesses.  

At least 21 medical workers in 12 states across Mexico have been attacked, said Fabiana Zepeda Arias, chief of nursing for Mexico’s Social Security Institute, at a press conference on Monday. “We can save your lives,” she pleaded. “Please help us take care of you, and for that, we need you to take care of us.”

On the plus side, musicians and dancers have serenaded health workers in various states and private citizens and businesses have shown their appreciation by providing them with meals and other support since the virus outbreak began.

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

Economy contracted 2.4% in first quarter; worst showing since 2009

By
MND Staff
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banknotes

Mexico’s economy shrank 2.4% in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period of 2019, according to preliminary data published on Thursday.

The contraction is the worst since the third quarter of 2009 when the ongoing effects of the global financial crisis caused a year-over-year GDP decline of 5%.

The first-quarter seasonally adjusted data from the national statistics agency Inegi comes amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak in Mexico.

However, the federal government’s social distancing initiative didn’t start until March 23 and nonessential businesses were allowed to remain open until the end of that month, meaning that the main economic impact of the pandemic will not be reflected in official data until second-quarter figures are released.

The preliminary Inegi data shows that secondary activities including manufacturing declined 3.8% between January and March compared to the first quarter of 2019, while the services sector shrank by 1.4%. The primary sector of the economy, including agriculture and fishing, performed better, growing 1.2% compared to the first quarter of last year.

The overall annual contraction of the economy was 0.8% larger than the 1.6% reduction between the last quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020. Inegi will publish a final estimate for the economy’s first-quarter performance on May 26.

The downturn in the first three months of the year comes after the economy contracted 0.1% in 2019, the first decline since 2009.

With many businesses currently closed and millions of Mexicans staying at home as much as possible to help limit the spread of Covid-19, the contraction is predicted to be much sharper this year.

The International Monetary Fund is predicting that GDP will decline by 6.6% in 2020 as a result of the “great lockdown” but some banks are forecasting that the economy will take an even bigger hit.

Citibanamex sees a 9% contraction this year while BBVA México said last week that the economy could shrink by up to 12%.

President López Obrador has been criticized for his economic response to the coronavirus crisis, with some analysts saying that his plan will hinder rather than help growth.

The president has said repeatedly that his administration will not increase public debt to support the economy amid the pandemic nor will it give tax breaks to large companies or bail them out should they face collapse.

Source: El Economista (sp) 

Filmmaker urges compassion after cops get heavy-handed over face mask

By
Susy Buchanan
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Police arrest a man in Jalisco for not wearing a face mask.
Police arrest a man in Jalisco for not wearing a face mask.

Police in Tala, Jalisco, on Sunday handcuffed, shoved and berated a man who says he went out to get food for his family with a mask in his hands rather than on his face, according to a video on social media.

When the video of the encounter, recorded by disgusted nearby merchants, reached the social media feed of Oscar-winning film director Guillermo del Toro, the Jalisco filmmaker brought it to the attention of Governor Enrique Alfaro Ramírez in a scathing pair of tweets Wednesday afternoon.

“Enrique Alfaro, maybe I don’t understand things, but this is a time that requires compassion and judgment, and not this,” del Toro wrote. His tweet initially drew more than 9,600 reactions, as well as 4,400 retweets. “Definition of brutality: excessive and irrational action without compassion. This is a citizen in the middle of a pandemic. Not a criminal,” the filmmaker also tweeted.

The arrest comes after Alfaro issued a stern warning to the 8.25 million residents of the western Mexican state last Sunday: stay home, practice social distancing and wear masks. Those who refuse will face consequences, including fines. “Everyone’s lives are at stake,” he said at the time, describing those who ignored the measures as “assholes.”

During Sunday’s video, before the man was eventually taken away under arrest, he argued with uniformed police officers. “I just came to buy my food and leave, why do you want to take me?” he protests. “I didn’t have a face mask, and they already gave me one.”

Police also scolded the merchant filming the encounter, who was wearing a mask, for not enforcing coronavirus guidelines among his customers.

Alfaro, for his part, responded to del Toro’s tweet by claiming the officers involved were local police from Tala, not state authorities.

Alfaro said he had already spoken with Tala’s mayor, and was working with him to investigate the incident and make sure it does not happen again.

“The rules we put in place need to be followed, but that does not mean that we will tolerate abuses by any authority,” Alfaro said on his Twitter account.

Del Toro, who left Mexico after his father was kidnapped in 1997, has been critical of government officials before.

In 2014, he and fellow directors Alfonso and Jonas Cuarón and Alejandro G. Iñárritu read a statement at a Museum of Modern Art film benefit in New York denouncing the Mexican government’s handling of the disappearance of 43 student protesters.

The following year, del Toro used his platform at the Guadalajara Film Fest to speak out against drug violence in the country. “It’s one thing to talk about a social crisis, but another to talk about absolute social decay,” he said.

As of Thursday morning, the two-minute video of the incident Tala had been viewed more than 340,000 times on social media.

Source: Infobae (sp), Hollywood Reporter (en)

Covid-19 deaths up 10% to 163; health official denies hospitals are saturated

By
MND Staff
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Covid-19 deaths as of Wednesday evening.
Covid-19 deaths as of Wednesday evening. milenio

More than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Wednesday and Mexico recorded its biggest single-day increase in its coronavirus death toll but the nation’s health system is not overwhelmed, according to data presented by the federal Health Ministry.

Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía said that 1,047 new Covid-19 cases had been detected, taking Mexico’s accumulated total of cases to 17,799. He also reported 163 new fatalities from the disease, lifting the death toll to 1,732 – a 10% jump compared to Tuesday.

Of the confirmed cases, 5,444 are considered active, Alomía told reporters at the nightly coronavirus press briefing. Mexico City has the highest number of active cases followed by México state, Tabasco, Baja California and Veracruz. Among those currently ill are 16 babies.

In addition to the confirmed cases, Alomía said that there are 13,263 suspected Covid-19 cases across the country. Almost 82,000 people have now been tested for the disease, he said.

Despite the growing outbreak of Covid-19 in Mexico – confirmed cases have now more than doubled since the government declared the commencement of phase three of the pandemic on Tuesday of last week – there are still plenty of beds available across the country’s public health system, data shows.

Accumulated coronavirus cases by state.
Accumulated coronavirus cases by state. milenio

Alomía presented graphs showing 77% availability of hospital beds for patients requiring general care and 79% availability for patients needing critical care and access to a ventilator. In other words, only just over one in five public hospital beds are currently occupied in Mexico.

However, data for individual states shows that the availability of hospital beds is much lower in those that have large Covid-19 outbreaks.

In Mexico City, where almost 4,800 people have tested positive, there is only 40% availability for patients requiring general care and 49% availability of critical care beds.

In México state and Baja California, which have the second and third biggest Covid-19 outbreaks, availability of general care beds is 59% and 56%, respectively, while for critical care beds it is 60% and 56%.

The health system in some states that have not recorded large Covid-19 outbreaks are under greater pressure than those in some other states with much higher case numbers.

Querétaro, where only 128 people have tested positive for Covid-19, has the fourth lowest availability of general care beds at 65%, while San Luis Potosí, where just 98 coronavirus cases have been detected, has the third lowest availability of critical care beds at 57%.

Director of Epidemiology Alomía, Health Minister Jorge Alcocer and Deputy Minister Hugo López-Gatell at the daily coronavirus briefing.
Director of Epidemiology Alomía, Health Minister Jorge Alcocer and Deputy Minister Hugo López-Gatell at the daily coronavirus briefing.

In contrast, the state with the sixth highest number of cases in the country, Quintana Roo, has 98% availability of general care beds and 95% availability of critical care beds.

Although data shows that there are still plenty of critical care beds available, the percentage of patients requiring them rose sharply on Wednesday. About one in five Covid-19 patients, 21%, are now in critical care beds compared to one in seven, 14%, the day before.

Alomía said Tuesday that between 60% and 80% of critically-ill Covid-19 patients who have required intubation have died.

The death toll on Wednesday – 163 new fatalities – exceeded the previous high of 152 by 7%. Since the government’s phase three declaration, the Health Ministry has reported 1,020 coronavirus-related deaths, meaning that almost 60% of all fatalities in Mexico occurred in the past nine days.

Mexico City has recorded the highest number of deaths with 389 followed by Baja California and México state, where 215 and 143 people, respectively, have lost their lives. Sinaloa, Tabasco and Quintana Roo have the next highest death tolls with more than 100 fatalities in each state.

Source: Milenio (sp) 

Treating Covid-19 patients cost popular Mexico City doctor his life

By
MND Staff
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Dr. Pepe Porras died after treating coronavirus patients for three weeks.
Dr. Pepe Porras died after treating coronavirus patients for three weeks.

A beloved Mexico City doctor passed away last week at the age of just 38 after contracting Covid-19 while treating patients with the contagious disease.

José Porras González, an emergency doctor at the IMSS 30 General Hospital in the borough of Iztacalco, died on April 21, eight days after he began feeling unwell.

Before falling ill, Porras had been treating coronavirus patients for three weeks, the newspaper El Universal reported, noting that he had to buy his own personal protective equipment because there was none at the hospital.

Pepe, as the doctor was known to his many friends and colleagues, initially isolated himself at his home after he developed Covid-19 symptoms but was hospitalized when his condition deteriorated.

Porras suffered from both diabetes and obesity, conditions that made him particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus that has claimed the lives of more than 225,000 people around the world.

A banner hangs outside the hospital where he worked.
A banner hangs outside the hospital where he worked. ‘So long, Dr. Pepe Porras,’ it reads. ‘Thank you.’

A 24-year-old niece of the doctor who said that Porras had been like a father figure to her after she lost her dad told El Universal that her uncle sacrificed his life to care for others.

“He wanted to be on the front line because his mission was always to save people’s lives, … he had a great desire to help people,” said Jazmín Porras.

She said that he had no fear of treating Covid-19 patients, explaining that he was in fact excited to be in a position to help Mexico respond to the pandemic. Porras loved his job with IMSS – the Mexican Social Security Institute – she added, explaining that he met his wife there.

The passing of the doctor, a medicine graduate of the National Autonomous University, triggered an outpouring of emotion from his colleagues and friends.

A video posted to social media shows Porras’ colleagues at the Iztacalco General Hospital paying their respects to their fallen friend with a round of applause. A photograph of the doctor now adorns the entrance to the health care facility alongside a banner that reads: “So long, Dr. Pepe Porras. Thank you.”

Friends and colleagues of the doctor, an avid soccer fan and devoted father, also paid tribute to him on social media.

“Thank you for your friendship, for always giving everything for your colleagues and patients,” wrote one person.

“With profound pain and my heart broken, I say goodbye to my friend and excellent colleague, the beloved Dr. Pepe Porras, an excellent doctor with a human quality like few others, a person with values, ethics and professionalism,” said another.

“He was the first … to support me and help me with the most seriously ill patients,” said an emergency room colleague.

“He always worked extra shifts, public holidays, extra hours and he never left until he finished [treating] all his patients. [He was] sensitive, warm, humble, always smiling, always positive, never said ‘I can’t’ or ‘I don’t have time.’”

Source: Sin Embargo (sp), El Universal (sp) 

Highway robbery of transport trucks up 25% during quarantine

By
MND Staff
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Attractive targets for highway robbers.
Attractive targets for highway robbers.

The robbery of transport trucks has increased 25% during the coronavirus quarantine period and car theft is up 10%, according to a company that specializes in the recovery of stolen vehicles.

The director of LoJack México told the newspaper El Universal that the company had started to see a decline in vehicle theft but numbers shot up again with the commencement of the Covid-19 containment measures.

“About three months ago we started to see very encouraging figures, especially in the central part of the country. … But since the lockdown we’ve had a very marked increase in [the robbery of] heavy vehicles,” David Román said.

He said that thieves are primarily targeting trucks carrying basic goods such as food and other essentials.

“Unfortunately [truck theft] has gone up in virtually the whole country,” Román said, adding that some parts of Mexico have seen sharper increases than others.

“Strangely enough, two municipalities that weren’t reporting such high levels, Zapopan and Guadalajara [both in Jalisco], are starting to have very serious problems. [And] the Mexico City-Puebla corridor continues to be a very significant focal point for these gangs,” he said.

Román said that the highest number of car thefts continue to be in the México state municipalities of Ecatepec and Nezahualcóyotl, both part of the greater Mexico City metropolitan area.

The LoJack chief said that crises always lead to an increase in criminal activity, adding that the National Guard and the army are currently more focused on the response to Covid-19 than public security tasks.

“It reduces the support they provide to other sectors,” he said.

Román warned people to take extra care of their vehicles given that they are more susceptible to theft now than during rosier economic times. He added that LoJack México has an 85% recovery rate of stolen vehicles fitted with the company’s radio transceivers.

Source: El Universal (sp) 

Telmex says problem fixed after hours of bad internet Tuesday

By
Cody Copeland
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infinitum modem

Users of internet service provided by Telmex and Telcel experienced network failures in many locations across the country on Tuesday, but the former assured customers that the problem has been fixed.

The firm owned by businessman Carlos Slim said in a press release that the problem was due to a software failure, causing some customers in the cities of Puebla, Veracruz, Villahermosa, Coatzacoalcos, Poza Rica, Irapuato, Aguascalientes and Mexico City to experience service interruptions, although the effects were reported in several other locations.

Telmex added that it “detected the failure thanks to its network management systems, … which allowed it to locate the point of origin and immediately initiate the process to solve it, allowing clients to continue navigating normally.”

For some customers in Oaxaca, service was far from normal for much of the afternoon for both customers of Telmex and the Telcel mobile network.

The internet service troubleshooting website Downdetector reported that the network failures occurred between 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

The problems caused many users to complain on social media about how the failures were affecting their lives. One of the primary complaints came from students trying to study online.

“I have to do homework on the university platform … [but can’t because of] Telmex with its lousy crap,” said one fed-up student on Twitter.

Telmex asked customers experiencing service interruptions to provide their full names, 10-digit phone number associated with their internet account, a cell phone number and email in order to solve any continuing problems with their service.

Despite the company’s statement that service had been returned to normal, users continued to complain of internet failures and the inability to speak with customer service on Wednesday.

Sources: Milenio (sp), Xataka (sp)

2.5 million affected by Valley of México water leak: Conagua

By
Susy Buchanan
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Water gushes from a leak in the Cutzamala water system.
Water gushes from a leak in the Cutzamala water system.

A breakdown in the Cutzamala water system left 2.5 million people in the Valley of México without water service, the National Water Commission (Conagua) reported yesterday. 

Although it was first estimated repairs would take 20 hours, Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum announced it took only 12 hours to restore service to 12 municipalities in the valley’s metropolitan area.

Affected communities included Acolman, Atizapán de Zaragoza, Coacalco, Cuautitlán Izcalli, Ecatepec, Huixquilucan, Naucalpan, Nezahualcóyotl, Nicolás Romero, Tecámac, Tlalnepantla and Tultitlán.

Yesterday, Sheinbaum indicated via her Twitter account that the government would provide the necessary support to restore service to 100% as soon as possible. Wednesday morning Sheinbaum tweeted that crews worked through the night to fix the mechanical issue, and had finished repairs at around 3 a.m. Once the line filled up again, which takes six to seven hours, water was to be restored.

A broken valve sent a geyser of water gushing from the ruptured line, causing flooding and damaging eight nearby homes.

The Cutzmala water line is one of the largest drinking water systems in the world and consists of a 127-kilometer-long pipeline, seven reservoirs and six pumping stations. 

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

Manufacturers want to reopen; in Ciudad Juárez some haven’t closed

By
MND Staff
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Employees of Electrocomponentes protest April 20 against a lack of health protection measures.
Employees of Electrocomponentes protest April 20 against a lack of health protection measures.

While many manufacturers have been calling on the federal government to allow the reopening of factories that were closed due to the coronavirus, some in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, never closed.

At least 28 factories classified by the government as nonessential are still operating in the northern border city, according to local media reports, including ones owned by United States aerospace company Honeywell, Mexican electronics firm Electrocomponentes and Swedish home appliance manufacturer Electrolux.

The factories have stayed open despite Juárez being the focal point of the coronavirus outbreak in Chihuahua, with 204 of the state’s 314 confirmed cases and 58 of the 67 deaths. The figures equate to an alarming fatality rate of 28 per 100 cases in Juárez – triple the national rate.

Workers and activists claim that the high number of cases in the border city compared to the rest of the state is due to factories and other nonessential businesses remaining open when they should be shut. Some workers say that have been forced to keep working if they want to keep their jobs.

Many at Honeywell protested last week because they haven’t been sent home on full pay, as the federal government ordered employers to do.

Honeywell workers protest two weeks ago against the company's decision to continue operating.
Honeywell workers protest two weeks ago against the company’s decision to continue operating.

However, the company’s employees were still at work on Tuesday, according to the newspaper Milenio, which filmed workers leaving the factory at the end of their shift. Wearing face masks, the employees left the plant to board buses, Milenio said, noting that some failed to comply with the recommendations to maintain 1.5 meters of distance from each other and not to touch their faces.

At least 500 workers at Electrocomponentes have also protested against their employer’s order that they continue to work during the emergency period. They also condemned the company for not granting leave to a female employee who is seven months pregnant.

Many of the factories that haven’t closed in Juárez are owned by United States companies, Milenio said, noting that they likely took the decision to remain open because they have an ongoing obligation to provide products to manufacturers in the U.S.

Many United States factories were classified as essential and have continued to operate even as the number of Covid-19 cases in that country soared.

The factories in Juárez that have refused to close have also violated an order issued by a Chihuahua court.

In response to an injunction request, Judge Madhay Soto Morales ordered the Chihuahua government on April 9 to close all nonessential factories. She also instructed the state Labor Ministry to carry out checks to verify that they had suspended operations.

Lawyer Carlos Joel Vargas argued that state authorities had failed in their responsibility to ensure that factories closed after the federal government ordered the suspension of all nonessential activities in late March.

In failing to uphold their responsibility, authorities have exposed factory workers and the general public to greater risk of being infected with Covid-19, he said.

Some factories in the Baja California cities of Tijuana and Mexicali, both of which have also recorded large Covid-19 outbreaks, have also defied the federal government order to close.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said on April 15 that 15% of businesses in Mexico had not complied with the order and would be shut down. However, it is unclear how many businesses have since been forcibly closed and sanctioned.

Many factories that were forced to close are likely to be able to reopen soon after President López Obrador said last Thursday that he expected an agreement “in due course” that will allow manufacturers that contribute to the North American supply chain to begin operating normally again.

The government announced the next day that it would allow the reopening of automotive factories which it had previously deemed unessential businesses.

The announcement came after manufacturers in both Mexico and the United States, and U.S. government officials, called on the government to allow certain factories to reopen to maintain regional supply chains.

The health emergency stipulating the suspension of nonessential activities is scheduled to run though May 30.

However, the emergency declaration must be updated before April 30, providing the government with the opportunity to make modifications to the activities it considers essential. Automotive and aerospace are among the sectors that are expected to be given the green light to recommence activities as soon as May 1.

Source: Milenio (sp), La Jornada (sp) 

After more than a month of isolation, people appear to be getting antsy

By
Sarah DeVries
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Social distancing doesn't come easily.
Social distancing doesn't come easily.

So how are y’all doing in quarantine?

Are you still staying inside? Are your neighbors?

It’s been over a month now, and everyone seems to be getting antsy. I am definitely getting antsy. People who had previously sworn to stay inside until the end have begun venturing out. How do we know that? Because Google knows that. Google knows everything.

I’m finding it hard to judge anyone for going out at this point, even for visiting others. Many of those who live in my colonia are behaving as if it were summer vacation, with cook-outs, kids playing with their neighbors, and teenagers hanging out and making out on the sidewalks.

At this point, I just give a shrug and a chuckle as I pass by, trying to put a reasonable amount of space between us.

Humans were never meant to live alone: we need each other; we’re communal animals. For myself personally, I don’t feel especially scared. I’m healthy with no pre-existing conditions, young-ish, and have been pretty good at staying away from people, and certainly away from crowds, during all of this.

Add to that the fact that Mexican culture and the Mexican way of life are particularly ill-suited for social distancing. We touch each other all the time, we crowd into places, we kiss, we stand, we sit, and we walk close to each other. The lack of concern for “personal space” is reflected in the very architecture of our communities. Why create larger, more open spaces? Just squeeze in there, it’s cozier that way.

Even those who are at greater risk because of age or health conditions seem to be weighing and considering the distress of isolation against the risk of illness and death, with plenty deciding that being with others is what makes life meaningful, virus or no virus.

All that said, if you’re mentally and emotionally able to keep making as good an effort as you can (I’ve never been a purist as a matter of philosophy — something is always better than nothing), give the following strategies for keeping it together a try.

  1. Video chat with friends and family. Especially for those of us who are foreigners and might not have much family here (in a place where they’re so into family that they will literally ditch you to hang out with them), connecting with those who have known and loved us for a long time can be an important lifeline. Having your beverage or herb of choice in hand helps too! And even if you don’t have much news to give, a quick internet search for “games to play on video chats” will give you some good ideas.
  2. Get your headphones on with your favorite playlist or podcast, and take a walk. As therapists constantly remind us, exercise is one of the most under-utilized methods of treating depression. Go around your neighborhood, walk down the street … it doesn’t really matter where, as long as you avoid getting in other people’s personal space.
  3. Do the home improvement stuff you’ve been putting off (that you’ll be able to do on your own, of course)! No time like the present — chop chop! On my docket this week is starting a couple of murals in the back, painting some picture frames, and anchoring my daughter’s toy shelves to the wall in the likely event that she or another child will try to scale them at some point.
  4. Try creating, executing, and sharing some fun assignments that will get you out of your head and out of monotony for a bit. My sister and I recently created a Facebook group modeled after artist Miranda July’s conceptual crowdsourced art project called Learning to Love You More. Each day an assignment is posted, usually something a little weird like “write a haiku poem” or “record yourself singing a lullaby that you liked when you were little.” So you get to have fun doing the assignment, and then you get to have fun seeing what everyone else did! It’s community without physical community, which is the best we can do right now.
  5. Do not worry about your kids’ schooling. Just do not. If you feel like doing the assignments, or think something looks like fun, go for it, but don’t feel guilty about not completing the rest of the school year’s curriculum with them. They’ll be OK, they’re smart, they’ll catch up. I don’t know how many parents (especially mothers) I’ve talked to that are so worried about having to work from home, monitor their children’s online classes, make sure they do their homework — it’s just too much. You know what my kid has done? Mostly watched the 1997 Disney movie Hercules 50+ times. I also got her some roller skates, and we go out every day to practice. Sometimes she also helps with cooking and cleaning, but that’s about it.

These are strange, interesting times we’re living in, folks. Let’s just take care of ourselves and each other as best we can right now.

Sarah DeVries writes from her home in Xalapa, Veracruz.

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