States Report Rising COVID Cases

Earlier this week, the Ministry of Health announced that while COVID-19 cases continue decreasing overall, several states registered rising cases. These states are Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Yucatan, Baja California Sur and Tamaulipas, according to José Luis Alomía, General Director of Epidemiology. Between May 24 and June 6, 15 states remained in the yellow traffic light category, including Mexico City, and 16 more are in the green category. Quintana Roo is a case of particular interest because it is currently the only state to remain in an orange category. This is a gruesome scenario, given that it is a crucial state in terms of tourism.

Alomía also informed that the country experienced a 4 percent reduction in estimated cases from the 19th to the 20th epidemiologic week (May 16-29). While this number is promising, he also stated that sanitary measures must be continued to avoid a potential resurgence in cases. Currently, there are around 17,600 confirmed and 9,000 estimated COVID-19 cases, and the hospital occupancy rate stands at approximately 13 percent. During this conference, it was also announced that vaccination could be halted on June 6 because of the midterm elections.

Minister of Foreign Relations Marcelo Ebrard informed that Mexico had surpassed its goal of having received 40 million vaccine doses by June 1. Currently, the country has received almost 40.2 million doses and expects to receive around 1.5 million more during the coming week. Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell added that Mexico has vaccinated around a quarter of its population aged 18 or more and that applying 1 million daily doses might not be too far-fetched. He explained that there were three consecutive days where less than 700,000 doses were delivered but reaching 1 million doses is a feasible goal.

A day after these announcements, President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador suspended the national vaccination campaign on June 6 to allow everyone to exercise their right to vote, including those scheduled to receive a dose of the vaccine. The President also added that this Saturday will mark the end of the period for people aged 50-59 to receive their first dose of the vaccine. The following Monday, vaccination will continue for people aged 40-49 and pregnant people. He noted an ongoing commitment to ensure that come October, every person aged 18 or more has received at least one dose of a vaccine.

It should be emphasized that even after having received the full vaccine schedule, be it one or two doses, there is still a chance of infection and spreading the disease to those not vaccinated. Hence the importance of maintaining full sanitary measures.