Together Against COVID-19 / Ebrard Details Program

All together now. After announcing the program “All together against COVID-19,” President López Obrador thanked private hospital owners for cooperating with the federal strategy against the pandemic. The program will last from April 23 to May 23 and will incorporate 3,115 private hospital beds to help public sector patients. The president highlighted the importance of the public and private sectors working together to fight the health crisis. “I want to thank the owners of private hospitals on behalf of the people of Mexico for this gesture, for this decision they have made,” he said. The president explained that the cost to the federal government will be minimal and that hospitals will not profit from the effort.

Ebrard details the program. Beds in private hospitals will be made available for patients of secondary services, such as caesarean sections and pregnancy care, appendix and hernia surgeries or endoscopies, providing healthcare to more than 12,000 public sector patients, Minister of Foreign Affairs (SRE) Marcelo Ebrard said. “It’s like building several hospitals in one week.” The goal is to let public system hospitals focus on the COVID-19 pandemic. The agreement was signed with the National Association of Private Hospitals (ANHP). Ebrard said ABC, Ángeles, San Ángel Inn Group, Beneficencia Española, Christus Muguerza, MAC, San Javier, Star Medica, Médica Sur, Clínica del Noroeste and Cemain are among the 146 hospitals in 27 states participating in the program.

Negotiation with OPEC went well. President López Obrador said Secretary of Energy Rocío Nahle and PEMEX Director Octavio Romero will report on the agreement with OPEC next Wednesday. “Regarding oil, I can tell you that it went very well. Mexico received special treatment and it was respected by the other oil-producing nations. It was something exceptional, never seen before,” he said.

COVID-19 report on Thursday. President López Obrador said specialists will disclose the situation related to the pandemic on Thursday, when they will also provide estimated times for when the most critical point of the pandemic could start and when the government could start to relax quarantine measures. The president said that the idea is to “gradually lift the quarantine, always listening to and respecting the recommendations of the specialists.”

Call to protect healthcare personnel. After reports of assaults against healthcare personnel, President López Obrador called on the population to take care of all healthcare professionals, to whom he expressed his deep appreciation. “A respectful call on the entire population to take care of our healthcare personnel, to respect them and love them, now more than ever,” the president said.

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Click HERE for full transcript in Spanish