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Talleyho69's avatar
Talleyho69
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May 18, 2020

Covid-19 in Guerrero

This information comes from both Meganoticias and Despertar de la Costa, both on line newspapers. It is intended to provide information, NOT be an argument or an attempt to stir the fire, just answer questions that people may have.

In Mexico testing is being handled differently than in some other countries. If you think you have symptoms of Covid 19, you call a phone number. You are interviewed, and if necessary, staff comes to you and tests you.

In the state of Guerrero as of yesterday there were 805 confirmed cases (accumulated), 292 active (with symptoms in the last 14 days), 401 recovered persons and 112 deceased persons carrying Covid-19. Likewise, of the 2,226 studies that have been performed, 1,242 have been negative.

In the municipality of Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo there have been 6 cases to date.

Out of the 81 municipalities in Guerrero, 12 are considered to be part of La Esperanza. To be one of these not only could you not have any cases in the last 28 days, you cannot share a border with a municipality that has had any cases in the last 28 days.

Why 28 days?? Hugo López - Gatell Ramírez, undersecretary for Prevention and Health Promotion said, "Conventionally, in applied epidemiology, two incubation periods or the clinical course of the disease are considered as an interval that would allow one to recognize that there is no transmission of the disease," he said.

He emphasized that the health sector used 4 incubation periods, since this is 7 days. "We want to do it in the most extreme way with 28 days and as we see the response of this change in the mitigation modality, if we see that it is safe at a given moment, we do not have a date, we could see if there is a positive response and then consider other entities."

The Federal government has stated that these municipalities may resume activities on May 18, but that the final decision was up to the state governors.

"The governors of the states with relevant municipalities could start operating on Monday, if they decide not to, they are exercising their powers as a state health authority and if they say no, there is no lawsuit with the federal government, this resumption includes the school activity in these municipalities, ”he said.

The Guerrero state governor has decided not to allow the resumption of normal activities in the La Esperanza municipalities at this time.

OK, so what does this all mean? The beaches, and anything non essential is closed until at least June 1. It could be longer. In an interview last week, on Meganoticias, the governor made a comments about opening the beaches at the end of July. There are a couple of flights in and out of the airport every week.

It's an interesting time. It's incredibly quiet and a great time for enjoying the things we often miss-animals, sounds, flowers, cooking, reading, whatever makes you happy, AT HOME!!!

20 Replies

  • We are back in Maine after cutting our visit to Mexico short. Maine has the oldest population in the US - older than Florida's population. Covid19 has had a very small impact here - killing less than 100 people - mostly people that were very old or not healthy previously.More than 50% of those killed were already in nursing homes.
    The virus was initially predicted to have a 4-5% mortality rate - thus far in the US I believe the mortality rate is .4%
    I suspect many more people have either had the virus and not even known it or had the virus with very slight symptoms which I take to mean that the virus is much less fatal than it was said to be.
    Some states (a very few, really)have been hit harder than the others.People (including me) are getting restless and angry with the responses which vary from state to state. Trustworthy news is hard to find.
    I have seen images of the crematorium in CDMX belching black smoke and running at capacity. I've seen webcams of deserted beaches and city squares. It's not like that here in the US. Other than obesity - and the US has plenty of that as well, I'm not sure why the contrast between the US (which many feel did not respond adequately) is so stark. US states that have reopened have not had the calamity that was predicted.
    Just my observations.....
  • The reality of the COVID19 in Mexico.

    The death toll is greatter than what is reported officially, some areas are relativlly free of the virus and others are more troublesome since some of the population has not heeded the request to stay home or the use of masks or social distancing.

    There have been mercados (supermarkets) and tiangis (open aire markets) that have to be closed by the authorities because the inhabitants of the colonias did not bother with the request from the government to stay home or had big crouded parties and gatherings, some have taken this as a vacation, kids are not in school and some are working from home, Whoopi party time.

    Given the socio-economic stratification of the population of Mexico in general, those that can afford to stay home are relativlly safe, as the economic strata is lowered there are those that can not afford to sequester themselves since at least 55% of the population or more live either paycheck to paycheck or weekly, others live on a daily basis thus the need to continue working and the majority do not have access to medical services, so if they contract the virus, the chanses of surviving are slim to none if they sucumb and die the government is not going to waste money doing an autopsy.

    Those that pass away in a clinica or hospital are counted, most hospitals in Mexico City are full, no more beds for those that can not pay, and although the government has decreed that even if the person can not pay they have to admit them and the Seguro Social will pay, they will admit the person with insurance or dinero first and that leaves the poor with no recourse, so the suviving family buerries them.

    Once they lift the curfew there is going to be another up swing, not that big in the Northen latitudes but in South America then it will migrate North and with the flue season we will be in for a nasty winter with a big upward curve, since some of the Latin countries are not really prepared for this pandemic and it will continue to propagate and eventually it will return with a vengance.

    Am I being negative?

    Not at all!

    I see reality for what it is, a vaccine takes time to develop and test, at least 18 or more months so we need to adapt to the new reality and a new way of life.

    Heed good advice wear the mask and a face shield or goggles, the virus can enter via your eyes, be aware of your distance to others.

    Be safe and aware of your surroundings.

    navegator
  • Friends in Melaque, Jalisco report no cases there. My dads english student is stuck in Mexico City. He says it's real ugly there. I am still in doubt about getting back in December to renew my temporal. May depend on flights.
  • Here in Zihuatanejo as of last night we have 11 confirmed cases. All 11 have recovered. However the last three cases were community contagion so it is here.

    The state of Guerrero announced yesterday that the Stay at Home and closure of hotels, restaurants, beaches and all non essential businesses will not be lifted on June 1 as previously announced. A reopening date has not been released.
  • All the data unfortunately can not be trusted coming out of Mexico. Many people are dying at home and are not being counted.
    PPE is lacking for all the health workers and many have contacted the virus. Border cities are being hit really hard.
    Personally I would take any statistics with a grain of salt.
  • Keep in mind that accurate or truthfull data in Mexico is hard to find. Guerrero must be different as testing in other states is hard to get.
  • You need to take into acount that a lot of Mexicans are diabetic, obese and have cardiac problems, so acording to the doctors these individuals are more likely to sucumb to the virus, Mexico mght have a higher mortality per infected persons.

    navegator
  • Thanks for the update and explanation of how the folks are responding to the crisis.
  • Thank you for providing this report. Information from Mexico regarding the Corona virus is scarce.