57,774 Deaths, 531,239 Positive Cases

Mexico nears five months with COVID-19

Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía announced today that Mexico has lived with COVID-19 for almost five months and that daily conferences will start to be limited as Mexico is already 80 days into the “new normal” according to the country’s traffic light strategy.

As of Tuesday, August 18

5,506 new cases (from yesterday)

531,239 confirmed cases nationwide

81,175   under investigation

57,774   deaths

Impact on markets (19.30 hrs)

US Dollar              MX$22.13            (-0.34%)

BMV IPC               39,087.35             (-0.51%)

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45 percent virus positivity

Five out of every 10 suspicious COVID-19 cases in Mexico are likely to be positive. Mexico’s hospital bed occupancy is at 34 percent nationally, though rates vary depending on the state. Additionally, 34 percent of ventilators in the country are available.

National mobility in the new normality

Durango, Nayarit, Michoacan and Queretaro have increased their levels of mobility for four weeks in a row, meaning that their economic reactivation and “back to normal” activities can begin. Positive cases are expected to rise within these states as their reopening continues. The states’ average mobility is at 30 percent of their usual mobility with an upward trend.

Yucatan, Campeche and Nuevo Leon have remained on a 50 percent mobility.

Tamaulipas, Mexico City, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Veracruz, Sinaloa, San Luis Potosi, Baja California Sur, Guerrero and Tlaxcala remained between 40 to 49 percent of mobility.

Chihuahua, Morelos, State of Mexico, Colima, Sonora, Jalisco, Puebla, Coahuila and Baja California have mobility of around 30 to 40 percent that should increase as they enter the “new normal”.

Be aware of mild COVID-19 symptoms

Ricardo Cortés, General Director of Health Promotion highly encouraged citizens to be aware of any mild symptom of COVID-19 before they reach a critical state. He stressed the importance of widely-known preventive measures such as frequent hand washing, the use of face masks, coughing and sneezing into the elbow and keeping social distancing.

Vaccine development and access

Alomía dismissed concerns on vaccine developments saying that WHO has a very strict criteria on safety and effectiveness in development of every vaccine. Furthermore, he said that WHO seeks to develop a vaccine that promote wellbeing, equality, reciprocity and legitimacy within the environment.

A call to avoid panic

“We need to live,” said Cortes. “If a person is aware of their health and of the state’s traffic light, they will have all the tools available to take smart decisions without falling into panic.” Cortes also called on people to be critical and take precautions as economic reactivation is critical for Mexico.

Preventive healthcare within the new education plans

School plans now include a “Healthy Living” subject that the Director General of Health Promotion has actively participated in. Cortes explained that this subject will complement the already existing efforts of the Ministry of Health hat focused on promoting physical activity and avoiding junk food at schools. He was positive about the new food and beverage labelling system, saying it was a positive step to guarantee healthy children as they are in an important learning stage as they start to create healthy habits.