Is Mexico Rushing to the New Normal?

What do COVID-19 figures in Mexico say? While the road to the new normal is now determined by each state, the whole country is showing data that indicates Mexico is far from being safe from COVID-19 contagion. Here is the week in health!

NATIONAL

-Bed occupation in Mexico City was said to be the benchmark to resume activities with a 65 percent bed occupation standard and a two-week decreasing tendency. The city’s contagion numbers have been stopping the government from authorizing a wider economic reactivation as they have just started to decrease. According to Director of Epidemiology, José Luis Alomía, bed occupation in the city is at 69 percent. 

-According to PAHO figures regarding COVID-19 in Latin America, the number of cases has tripled in June, while Mexico shows a clear tendency of an increasing number of positive cases.

-Restaurants, bars and clubs have resumed activities in states like Jalisco, Queretaro, Aguascalientes and Puebla. Sanitary measures are required for individual protection. In Mexico City, it has been said that these businesses will be the last to reopen. However, local shops have been able to restart activities

-During the daily COVID-19 evening press conference, Deputy Minister of Health, Hugo López-Gatell warned the population about the Sahara dust cloud expected in Mexico, saying that the particles of sand can enter respiratory system and worsen respiratory problems on people with pulmonary emphysema, bronchitis or asthma.

-Here are some tips that Factor Capital Humano compiled for the upcoming start of non-essential activities in Mexico.

INTERNATIONAL

-After trials on the drug, the European Agency of Medicines authorized the use of Gilead’s Remdesivir to treat COVID-19 positive cases in the whole continent. India, South Korea and the US have already authorized an emergency use of the same drug to treat severe cases of COVID-19.

-A study made by the University of Washington showed that the general use of facemasks reduces the number of deaths in almost 10,000. The same study projects the number of deaths in Mexico by October to be around 88,000 if preventive and isolation measures remain until that date.

-Virtual recruitment of laboratory employees is the new initiative that the US has started to encourage to keep promoting science and education in the field. Due to pandemic-related limitations, colleges in the US have sought for alternative measures to maintain and spread lab culture.