Coronavirus: Mexico ‘flying blind’ in pandemic response

August 18, 2020

Mexico’s COVID-19 response has become the stuff of memes. A popular one making the rounds on social media shows chief epidemiologist Hugo Lopez-Gatell surrounded by a cheering crowd (represented by characters from The Simpsons) and the words “The peak of the pandemic will be next week! (It doesn’t matter when you read this tweet).”

Internet users and health experts alike have been critical of the government’s approach to managing the pandemic. At first, the government played down the COVID-19 outbreak, said Julio Frenk, Mexico’s health minister from 2000 to 2006. He told DW that when that didn’t work, the government decided to use mathematical simulations to study the infection process, rather than start testing for the virus.

This ineffective approach has been combined with a mixed message on face masks: Lopez-Gatell initially described them as unnecessary, before eventually recommending their use, while President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador still rejects them to this day.

Read more: Latin America struggles to contain the pandemic

“People mistrust the government and only go to hospital when it’s already too late,” said Frenk, now the president of the University of Miami.

Record infection rate

The latest statistics show that Mexico is moving steadily into the group of countries most affected by COVID-19. More than 525,000 people have been infected as of August 18, and at least 57,000 people have died.

Since early July, about 5,000 people have been infected with the coronavirus every day, according to official figures. On Tuesday, however, the Health Ministry reported a 20% decline in fatalities in the past week, compared with the previous seven-day period. Lopez-Gatell said the number of new daily cases and deaths had begun to diminish, telling reporters that the epidemic in Mexico was in a “sustained decline.”

A crowd of people wearing face masks in Mexico City (picture-alliance/dpa/El Universal)

Most Mexicans are wearing face masks, even though their president thinks they’re useless

But the country still ranks seventh in the world in terms of infections and third when it comes to fatalities, after the world’s hot spots of United States and Brazil, where nearly 110,000 people have died due to the virus outbreak in the South American country.

“In the coronavirus crisis, Mexico is actually just as badly off as Brazil,” said Malaquias Lopez-Cervantes, head of the sociomedical research unit at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Read more: How the coronavirus lockdown is hitting Mexico’s drug cartels

‘Flying blind’ without tests

At 11.9%, the number of deaths in relation to those infected is almost twice as high in Mexico as it is in Brazil, according to a study by Johns Hopkins University. World Health Organization figures show that Mexico ranks only behind Italy (14.5%) and the United Kingdom (14%).

Chief epidemiologist Lopez-Gatell has argued that Mexico’s figure is only so high because the country tests so little. In other words, if more people with weaker symptoms were tested, more recovered patients would appear in the statistics, reducing the fatality rate.

But health experts have said this is a weakness in Mexico’s strategy. The government’s mathematical model is of little use, said Frenk, adding that the country is “flying blind” without more testing. Expanding testing capacities and tracking infection chains, two approaches that have been successfully implemented around the world, are not part of Mexico’s plan.

Cost savings, underlying conditions a lethal mix

The fact that neither have been applied in Mexico may be because the government is following a strict austerity program and is reluctant to spend money on wide-scale testing, said Lopez-Cervantes.

The pandemic hit Mexico amid a “tumultuous restructuring process,” said Frenk, adding that health authorities have been bled dry by the pressure to cut costs. In addition, the country’s former national health insurance scheme has yet to be replaced.

Read more: In Mexico, coronavirus floods food banks with demand

President Lopez Obrador appears to be pinning his hopes on the belief that herd immunity will kick in once 70% of the population has been infected, or the promise of a vaccine in the near future — Mexico, along with Argentina, plans to produce a potential vaccine with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca for much of Latin America. But both are unlikely to happen this year, said Lopez-Cervantes.

Coronavirus czar Lopez-Gatell, meanwhile, has put the blame on Mexicans themselves for the high fatality rate, pointing out that they are overweight and suffer from high blood pressure and diabetes due to excessive sugar consumption. Both factors increase the chances that someone will die of COVID-19. “Shifting the blame to the victims — a classic maneuver used by populist governments,” said Frenk.

Coronavirus overwhelms cemetery in Mexico

No space for the dead

At the municipal cemetery in the city of Nezahualcoyotl, which lies just to the east of the capital Mexico City, the graves are stacked on top of each other to ensure there is enough space to lay people to rest. But the coronavirus pandemic is pushing it beyond breaking point. Workers are forced to remove coffins, including those of babies, to make space for new arrivals.

Coronavirus overwhelms cemetery in Mexico

Coffins in the streets

A baby’s coffin that had occupied a plot for a while has been removed and left on the street. If families do not tend to the plot the remains are removed so a new coffin can replace them. The cemetery makes an effort to contact the family to ask what they want to happen next but, if they don’t receive an answer, the remains are burned and the ashes reburied in mass graves.

Coronavirus overwhelms cemetery in Mexico

Hit hard by coronavirus

Mexico has been hit very hard by COVID-19. As of July 25 it was the fourth-worst affected country, with 42,645 deaths and 378,285 total infections. Nezahualcoyotl has suffered especially. A slum before it was made a city, it is Mexico’s most densely populated municipality, with over 15,000 people per square kilometer. The virus has been able to spread easily here.

Coronavirus overwhelms cemetery in Mexico

A hotspot around Mexico City

Many locals live from their small businesses, says photographer Jonathan Alpeyrie, making it impossible for them not to work for long periods of time. Throughout the crisis, he reports, many were trying to carry on with their daily lives to make ends meet. This has taken a huge toll — the virus has been rampant, and Nezahualcóyotl is one of the more affected areas around Mexico City.

Coronavirus overwhelms cemetery in Mexico

Lockdown ‘lifted too quickly’

Public health messages are spread around the area, such as on this poster, which reads: “That this is not your last exit.” But there have been many critics of the government’s response. Many argue it implemented its lockdown too slowly and lifted restrictions too quickly. Nezahualcoyotl’s mayor, Juan Hugo de la Rosa, told the New York Times he also felt restrictions were eased too soon.

Coronavirus overwhelms cemetery in Mexico

Crematorium workers feel the heat

People have died at such a rate that it has not been possible to find graves for everyone. Many of the dead are cremated. Crematorium workers in Nezahualcoyotl told AFP news agency they are cremating eight or more bodies a day. Coming into contact with so many grieving families is tough, they say, and they are also worried about catching the virus themselves.

Coronavirus overwhelms cemetery in Mexico

Choosing home over hospital

Many families are dealing with family members suffering from COVID-19, but the scale of the crisis has knocked people’s confidence in the health services. According to Alpeyrie, ambulances and hospitals are seen as places where the virus spreads fastest. After a positive diagnosis for COVID-19 in the home, many families refuse to let people be taken to hospital.

Coronavirus overwhelms cemetery in Mexico

Hit-and-run

It was a similar scenario for this young man, says Alpeyrie. He was a victim of a hit-and-run and received treatment on the scene from paramedics. While they were assessing him, they determined he was likely to have contracted COVID-19. His family was called and arrived at the scene of the accident while he was being looked after by the paramedics.

Coronavirus overwhelms cemetery in Mexico

Looking out for the family

His family refused to let the paramedics put him into an ambulance and take him to an emergency room, says Alpeyrie. Instead, they decided to take him home in a car and look after him themselves, believing it is better for him to be there than in the hospital in Nezahualcoyotl.