COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico
The COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
The virus was confirmed to have reached Mexico in February 2020. However, the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) reported two cases of COVID-19 in mid-January 2020 in the states of Nayarit and Tabasco, with one case per state.[6]
The Secretariat of Health, through the "Programa Centinela" (Spanish for "Sentinel Program"), estimated in mid-July 2020 that there were more than 2,875,734 cases in Mexico because they were considering the total number of cases confirmed as just a statistical sample.[7]
Background
On January 12, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019.[8][9]
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[10][11] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[12][10]
Statistics
Curves of infection and deaths
On April 20, the Secretariat of Health started to report active cases at the daily press conference.[204]
Government response
Employment Protection
In June 2020, Mexico's open unemployment rate was 5.5 percent in, representing an increase of 1.3 percentage points from a month earlier.[267] The Government of Mexico reiterated that the declaration of the health emergency doesn't have to result in loss of job or in wage reduction. Businesses that couldn't continue to pay pre-pandemic wages were recommended to approach Federal Attorney for the Defense of Labor to find solution that will be in the best interest of both parties.[268] The Ministry of Economy awarded loans with optional repayment totaling 37.9 billion pesos to companies with payroll employees, self-employed workers, and 26.6 billion pesos to family businesses that were previously registered in the Welfare Census.[269] For three months, the government subsidized unemployment insurance for workers who have a mortgage with the Housing Institute (5.9 billion pesos). Additional funding was committed to housing projects (4 billion pesos).[270]
The Mexican Health Ministry provided permission for employees in high-risk groups—such as those over 65 years old and pregnant women—to remain home keeping their salary.[271] Almost 60% of jobs in Mexico are informal.[272] Nonetheless, there were virtually no federal-level policies aimed at mitigating the income shock experienced by informal workers but most of the country's states implemented their own programs to support informal workers.[271] Overall, Mexican response to the employment crisis was criticized for austerity and described as insufficient by population .[273]
Misinformation and criticism
Mexico's federal government was perceived as slow to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic as of late March 2020, and it was met with criticism from certain sectors of society and the media.[402] Through April 1, the government only performed 10,000 tests, compared to 200,000 that had been completed in New York state. Therefore, official statistics are likely to greatly underestimate the actual number of cases.[403] The New York Times reported on May 8, 2020, that the federal government is underreporting deaths in Mexico City; the federal government reports 700 deaths in the city while local officials have detected over 2,500.[54]
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador continued to hold rallies, be hands-on with crowds, and downplay the threat of coronavirus to health and the economy.[402][404]
Miguel Barbosa Huerta, the governor of Puebla, claimed that only the wealthy were at risk of COVID-19, since the poor are immune. There is no evidence that wealth affects a person's vulnerability to the virus.[405][406]
Rumors about a curfew sparked the barricading of streets in San Felipe del Progreso, State of Mexico, on May 8, 2020.[407] A rumor spread via WhatsApp that authorities were spreading gas contaminated with COVID-19 provoked vandalism of police cars in San Mateo Capulhuac, Otzolotepec, on May 9.[408]
Studies on the media framing of COVID-19 in Mexico claim newscasts and newspapers focused on the political side of the pandemic rather than on providing scientific and self-efficacy information.[409] Researchers also demonstrated that the United States and Mexico failed to test, treat, and/or vaccinate deportees on either side of the border, leading to undiagnosed illness among migrants who were formerly held in crowded detention facilities as well as the sustained cross-border spread of SARS-CoV-2.[410]