C-19 Global South Observatory

MEXICO

Information last updated: 26 May, 2020

  • Total population: 129.2 M
  • Population +65: 7%
  • GDP Per Capita: 20,397 USD
  • Informal employment: 56% (2019)
  • First registered case: 27 February
  • Hospital beds: .70 (per 1,000 people)

Sources: TheWorld Bank and WHO  (Population over 65 years old, Informal employment, GDP-PPP, Hospital beds).

Status

Non-essential activities suspended until May 30th. The gradual reactivation of activities will begin on June 1st following a the protocols for color-code system for categories (Eg. Schools, Work) that will be applied by regions.

Mexico is ninth country with more deaths due to the coronavirus, having reached 7,633 fatalities as of May 25.

As of April 22th, Mexico has entered Phase III of the contingency, which according the health authorities, signal to a rising number of cases up to the thousands (+9k cases confirmed). A nationwide “Jornada Nacional de Sana Distancia” has been put in place until May 30th, and entails the suspension of non-essential activities in the public, private and social sectors. To date, Mexico has not put in place curfews or mandatory lockdowns. Government authorities have also declared a health emergency. 

Response set up and capacity

The Health Secretariat (Secretaría de Salud) is responsible for managing and guiding all health institutions. Additionally, the Health Secretariat, through the Epidemiological and Sanitary Intelligence Unit (UIES, Unidad de Inteligencia Epidemiológica y Sanitaria) of the General Directorate of Epidemiology, issues epidemiological warnings and monitors the pandemic. Furthermore, the National Epidemiological Surveillance System is the set of epidemiological strategies and actions that allow the production of useful epidemiological information for public health. The National Network of Public Health Laboratories and the Institute of Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference are entities in charge of conducting testing and confirming cases. 

According to an OECD report published last November, Mexico has only 1.2 nurses for each doctor, whereas the average among OECD member countries is 2.7. It is estimated that the number of beds won’t cover the demand as projections show that 24,500 people would likely require hospitalization and just over 10,500 could need intensive care. Current capacity is estimated to be around 3,000 ICU beds, including those operated by public hospitals, social security services, Pemex, the army and navy. 

Stakeholder Mapping

Entities / Organizations

• Secretaría de Salud Federal
• Unidad de Inteligencia Epidemiológica y Sanitaria (UIES) de la Dirección General de Epidemiología
• Dirección General de Epidemiología Comité Nacional para la Vigilancia Epidemiológica (CONAVE)
• Comités Jurisdiccionales y Estatales para la Vigilancia Epidemiológica
• Red Nacional de Laboratorios de Salud Pública

Additional actors

• President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador
• Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez, Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion
• José Luis Alomía Zegarra, General Director of Epidemiology

Mitigating factors - What is being done?

  • 9 January – The General Directorate of Epidemiology published a Preventive Notice of Travel to China. 
  • 28 February – The first case in Mexico was confirmed (35-year-old male from Mexico City, with previous travel to Italy. 
  • 14 March – The Epidemiology General Directorate updated the Preventive Travel Notice to countries with local transmission of coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
  • 15 March – Mexico confirmed 41 confirmed in total, all tied to previous travel to Italy, the United States, Spain or Germany.
  • 17 March – The Federal government announces that 3,500 millions pesos (about 157 million USD) will be used to support the fight against the epidemic, mostly directed at acquiring medical supplies for hospitals.
  • 18 March – Work meeting on COVID-19 between national committees of Emergencies and Health Safety; First death from coronavirus in Mexico.
  • 23 March –  Actions of “Jornada Nacional de Sana Distancia” began to be carried out, which will last until April 19th.
  • 24 March – Work from home is ordered to public servants, except for essential functions. Preventive measures are imposed on the public, private and social sectors; the government puts outs a recruitment call for medical personnel.   
  • 25 March – Government authorities declared Phase 2 of the coronavirus pandemic in Mexico.
  • 27 March – Government implements extraordinary measures including allowing the extraordinary use of all medical and social assistance resources of the public, social and private sectors existing in the affected and neighboring regions;  eliminates public bidding procedures for all medical equipment, diagnostic agents, surgical and healthcare materials, hygiene products, amongst others; and puts in place measures to avoid price speculation. 
  • 30 March – A health emergency is declared. 
  •  April 16 – the extension of the Jornada Nacional de Sana Distancia is extended until May 30th (from a tentative end date of April 30th. Lopez Gatell announces that by May 17, states and municipalities with low levels of infection can consider loosening these restrictions (i.e, opening schools).  
  • April 19 – Mexico City’s hospital are nearing full-capacity “after they received 100 more Covid-19 patients requiring intubation in just two days”.
  • April 22 – According to an assessment carried out by Oxfam México, the additional social programs promoted to protect by the President the most vulnerable populations are far covering the needs of the workers with fewer economic resources.
  • April 23 – Shanghái delivers a donation of medical materials to Mexico, including masks, face-masks and googles. // The public hospital systems (IMSS) publishes the guidelines to request a medical leave of absence from their work if they exhibit (not critical) symptoms of the virus.
  • April 24 – Authorities confirm that several private hospital have reached their full capacity or are already dealing with an overload of coronavirus cases.
    • In the State of Nuevo León, the authorities of the San Pedro Garza García municipality activated the Phase 4, which meant installing police filters to monitor entry of vehicles to the municipality. Everyone is subject to questions and can be denied entry if not residents of the place.
  • May 13 – The president announced the 3-stages plan for returning to a “new normality“ The first one starts on May 18 and involves reactivating activities (work, school, use of public spaces) on “Municipios Esperanza” (Hope municipalities) in which there have been no confirmed cases (over 200 hundred by then). The second stage goes from May 18 until May 31, a period of so-called “preparation” so that families, companies and institutions prepare protocols for reactivation. The third stage is marked to begin on June 1st with the application of a traffic-light system for regions that includes with four colors and five categories (Work, Use of Public Space, Vulnerable populations, School, and Measures of Public Health and Work). Each color indicates protocols and/or level of reactivation that should be followed for each of the categories in an specific region.
  • May 14 – Purchase of alcohol is prohibited in various delegations of Mexico City in an attempt to prevent domestic violence and the movement of people. The measure applies mostly during weekends.
  • May 24 – Coparmex reports that every minute 8 jobs are lost in Mexico and called for the government to subsidize the salaries of more than 19 millions informal workers affiliated to the public health system. 685,840 formal jobs were lost in March and 555,247 in April.
  • May 25 – The number of confirmed cases surpasses the 70,000 number, and over 50,000 of those were reported just during May. And even though the peak of the epidemic was expected to take place early in the month, the percentage of new daily cases continues to increase. // According to the Secretary of Economy, the economic reactivation of the country will not start until there is a vaccination and medicines against the virus, but showed hopes that the new commercial treaty between Canada, USA and Mexico helps to reposition the global price of oil.
  • May 26 – PEMEX (nationalized petrol company) reports 1,458 positive coronavirus cases within its employees and 204 deaths. // Several corporations in the country, including Cruz Azul cements, announced that they will be conducting their own Covid-19 tests in an effort to contribute to the detection and prevention of cases.

Risks, vulnerabilities, obstacles

  • Hospitals’ capacity and health system: On March 30th, epidemiologist López-Gatell modeled the estimated hospitalization burden arising from COVID-19 pandemic in two scenarios – with no interventions, and with actions similar to ‘stay at home’ orders. Without any intervention, it is predicted that Mexico’s ICU and hospital capacity would collapse at the end of April. Currently, several private hospitals have surpassed their capacity.
  • Health risks: A fundamental aspect putting the Mexican population at greater disadvantage and risk of contagion is that the country has one of the highest rates of obesity, diabetes and hypertension, which is likely to be correlated to the elevated rate of coronavirus fatalities.
  • Poverty and inequality: 50% of Mexicans live below the poverty line, and 30 million Mexicans work in the informal sector – the economic repercussions of the pandemic make 30% more Mexicans vulnerable to fall under the poverty line, particularly as informal workers receive no social welfare benefits. It is estimated that if the economy plunges by 5 percent this year,  1.7m jobs could be lost, including 700, 000 in the formal sector. 
  • Migrants and remittances: Though migration from Mexico has slowed in recent years, the country received record remittances of $36bn last year from Mexicans abroad — a vital lifeline that will be hard hit as the US economy plummets.
  • Gender-based violence: Domestic violence has demonstrated to be one of the most concerning issues emerging from the confinement. Almost two months after the registration of the first COVID-19 case in Mexico and one month after the beginning of the “Sana Distancia” campaign, the Shelter Network observed an increase of 80% of GBV related calls and messages. Additionally, these centers have reached 80% to 110% of their capacity, especially in entities such as Guanajuato, the State of Mexico, and Chiapas. Despite the official campaigns to call for a contingence without violence (#ContingenciaSinViolenia), this remains a critical problem in Mexico.

Potential actions and demands

Key resources

Contributor(s): Berenice Fernández, Ivette Yanez.

The C-19 Global South Observatory is a collaboration between