COVID-19: This week will be key for Mexico

Half of the states went from a high COVID-19 contagion risk to a medium contagion risk in a week. Each state will decide if and when will it reopen .

Mexico City

is currently at high contagion risk but it will begin a transition period today. To lower the contagion risk onto the next stage, 15,000 workers will travel throughout the city in a bid to find possible COVID-19 cases , and people who suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. The local government will apply 2,700 tests every day, 145% more than the 1,100 tests it is currently applying. The goal is to carry out 100,000 tests per month starting in July.

The city’s new strategy is quite different from the one of the federal government and follows the example of many European and Asian countries , who quickly followed the recommendations issued by the World Health Organization.

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The identification of people infected with the novel coronavirus will allow us to track those who later contracted the virus. International experts consider that the government must suffocate “small fires” and not “devastating epidemiological fires.”

To carry out this task, local authorities developed a mechanism: people who think they might be infected can take a survey through text or a phone call. After the results, authorities decide whether the person will be visited by doctors or if they need to take a COVID-19 test .

Adopting the “new normal” means people will individually adopt new habits. For authorities, this means they must plan a reopen the city gradually, along with testing to prevent a new outbreak .

Mexico still has the opportunity to learn from the strategies launched by Asian and European countries to end isolation measures. Resuming activities shouldn’t be a call for people to leave their homes since the federal and local governments have the responsibility to carry out a successful reopening process . If health authorities do not monitor new COVID-19 cases, the situation could worsen. This week will be key.

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