36,990 Deaths, 317,635 Confirmed Cases

The Ministry of Health reported 579 new deaths from COVID-19, bringing the national accumulated to 36,990 while a further 6,149 positive cases were confirmed today raising the accumulated total to 317,635. Active cases, or those who can transmit the virus, rose to 48,207.

During today’s briefing director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía said suspected cases increased to 81,411, while 199,129 individuals have recovered from the virus.

The list of states on the orange traffic light are: Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chihuahua, Mexico City, Durango, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, Oaxaca, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Yucatán and Zacatecas. The rest of the states remain in red. No further details were given on the next update of the epidemiological traffic light.

Alomía said that Tabasco, Nuevo León and Nayarit top the list of occupancy of general beds for COVID-19 patients. For ICU units (or beds with ventilators) Nuevo León, Tabasco and Baja California report the highest saturation.

As of Wednesday, July 15

6,149     new cases (from yesterday)

317,635 confirmed cases nationwide

81,411   under investigation

36,906   deaths

Impact on markets (19.30 hrs)

US Dollar              MX$22.34            (-0.45%)

BMV IPC               36,590.26             (1.10%)

Dow Jones          26,870.10             (0.85%)

CFE canceled four tenders

Given the COVID-19 crisis, CFE canceled four generation plants tenders that were launched between the end of last year and the beginning of 2020. The plants that were in the bidding process were Salamanca, Baja California Sur Vl, San Luis Potosí and Los Humeros III Phase B, which would have a combined installed capacity of 1,562 MW and an estimated investment of US$1.12 billion. After initially proposing these tenders under the old Pidiregas scheme, CFE said there are no economic conditions to carry the projects without increasing debt.

ECLAC sees 9 percent contraction in 2020

Given the resistance of the COVID-19 pandemic and the previous weakness of the economy, Mexico's GDP will contract 9 percent in 2020, anticipates the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). The agency forecasted a 5.5 percent contraction on April 21. ECLAC head Alicia Bárcena said that Ecuador joins Mexico with the fifth strongest economic contraction  in the region, below Venezuela, Peru, Argentina and Brazil, in that order.

A warning on austerity in the recovery process

Expansive fiscal policies and avoiding austerity measures are necessary to counter the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) head Alicia Bárcena said. "Everyone is concerned not only about the emergency but about how we are going to achieve the economic recovery, and that will not be possible with austerity measures,” Bárcena said in a video conference.

Hospitalizations rocket in Mexico City

The number of people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Mexico City increased between Monday and Tuesday, rising from 2,557 to 2,640 inpatients, Head of Government Claudia Sheinbaum said. She explained that this data cannot be considered a trend since it has to keep ongoing for several days and that the increase is likely because of an adjustment in the weekend numbers.

BBVA forecast 10 percent plunge

The economic crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic bottomed out in April and will lead to a "slow and tortuous" recovery, BBVA Mexico chief economist Carlos Serrano said. According to the bank GDP this year will contract 10 percent while in 2021 there will be a partial recovery of between 2 and 4.5 percent.