All But Three Mexican States in “Green Light”

All but three of the 32 Mexican states have entered “green light” in the COVID-19 risk system map, meaning most of the country’s citizens live in areas with the most relaxed pandemic health regulations.

As case numbers continue to decrease across the country, the Mexican Minister of Health Jorge Alcocer Varela released the Stoplight of Epidemic Risk map for November 1 to 13. According to the Guideline for the Estimates of Risk per Stoplight for COVID-19 Regions, close to all of the nation’s states can operate under “green light” as those regions have the lowest possible classifiable risk of COVID-19 contagion.

Only the central states of Aguascalientes and Guanajuato remain in “yellow light,” while the Northwestern state of Baja California remains in “orange light.” Baja California has been one of the country’s largest hotspots throughout the pandemic, largely explained by health experts as a result of its status as a state border the US.

The country has not seen these numbers since late June, right before the third and worst wave of contagions yet hit. But Mexican citizens and tourists should remain cautious, considering that the second wave of contagions began in late November 2020 and peaked in late January. That peak was considered a result of holiday season celebrations and higher tourism.

During this November’s “Dia de los Muertos” celebrations, the Pan-American Health Organization (OPS) determined that suggested health guidelines were not followed. This year’s remaining holiday season could see a new wave of COVID-19 cases but it would likely be a more controllable, less deadly wave considering that close to half the nation’s country has received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Mexico has applied over 153 million COVID-19 vaccines from numerous pharmaceutical companies. And at the rate Mexico is vaccinating its population, another 10 percent will have received additional doses, according to vaccine trackers from Reuters. This rate might only accelerate as last Saturday the country received over 5 million COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccines from Canada, bringing the total of AstraZeneca vaccines received by the country to 62 million, according to the Ministry of Health.

Currently, the country continues its vaccination campaign by switching focus to the nation’s youth, urging those aged 12 to 18 with preexisting conditions to receive their first and second doses. The next couple of months will put the effectiveness of vaccination campaigns to the test, allowing for an easy comparison of last year’s numbers along these dates.