Christian Carlos. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
"The Ministry of Health reports this November 28, 2020 that, in Mexico, there are 67,981 active cases and 132,511 suspected cases of COVID-19; 105,400,49 people have died and 73.8 percent of the cases have recovered," reads the daily report it issued, with the signature of the Mexican Government, last Sunday after registering the highest number of estimated active cases derived from the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the country.
Almost immediately, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) issued an urgent warning, stating: "The situation in Mexico is very worrying. The numbers show that the country is in a bad situation. When cases are rising and also deaths, it is a very serious problem and we would ask Mexico to be serious. We hope that all leaders set an example," replied the WHO on its Spanish Twitter account during the press conference, which was also attended by physician Michael Joseph Ryan and epidemiologist Maria DeJoseph Van Kerkhove.
The strong call for attention from the United Nations health agency comes a few months too late, since the Mexican health authorities have seriously misled the population instead of informing them in a timely manner.
The narrative of the discourse in the daily report issued by the Mexican Ministry of Health has changed during the 252 days since the COVID-19 health emergency was declared in the country. For example, on June 22, when the figure barely reached 23,155 confirmed active cases, the "risk traffic light" consisted of four colors: "color red is high riskorange, medium; yellow, low; and, green, no risk", was heard in the report.
Today, the states of Chiapas and Campeche, Mexico, are in green, which, according to the first narrative of the Mexican government, implied that these states were not at risk of contagion; however, the narrative changed the following day, when the following phrase was transmitted to the media: "Remember: the color of the color of the green is green. red is maximum risk; orange, highyellow, low; and, green, no risk".
Deaths are no longer "regrettable".
The change of narrative occurred simultaneously at the Ministry of Health under Vice-Minister Hugo López-Gatell and at the Mexican presidency under Andrés Manuel López Obrador for the second time in less than two days: "Remember: red is maximum risk; orange, high; yellow, medium; and, green, low". Three days were enough to confuse the population: by June 24, the Mexican government declared, in a subliminal way, that there would be no entities without risk of contagion by COVID-19. The change in narrative did not stop there.
Since March 26, when COVID-19's daily case summaries began to be broadcast in the media, they were signed at the end with the words "Government of Mexico".
On June 24, 24,324 "regrettable deaths" were reported, according to the serene voice stamp; the next day, Mexico's government, under President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, dropped the sensitive adjective to note that coronavirus deaths in the country would not stop. Even so, the government assumed that "lamenting" more than 25,000 deaths could represent a great lack of respect. Those of us who have lost family members to COVID-19 continue to mourn each and every death.
The voice stamp that reminded the population about the meaning of the colors of the "risk traffic light" was removed in its entirety on June 25.
López-Gatell or López Obrador?
The Government of Mexico's signature suddenly disappeared from the daily summaries as the "risk traffic light" showed steady improvement, specifically on September 4 when only the state of Colima, Mexico, was, according to the narrative, at "maximum risk". From that day on, the Ministry of Health was in charge of signing the daily summaries broadcast by the media - different from the daily press conferences, also known as "technical reports". A voice stamp was attached announcing that the improvement in the country was to be attributed specifically to the Ministry of Health and not to the efforts of the Mexican Government.
This trend in discourse threatened the Mexican health ministry again when the second SARS-CoV-2 outbreak began in Mexico during the last week of October; specifically, the week of October 30, when nearly 53,000 active cases of COVID-19 were confirmed and the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, moved back to red - maximum risk - on the "risk traffic light".
During the same week, Mexico's vice minister of health, Hugo Lopez-Gatell, said that, according to "the scientific evidence"He added that the use of a mask "helps to reduce the likelihood of viruses leaving the respiratory tract of a sick person". However, he continued: "The face cover is of no significant use in protecting ourselves.". The Mexican media immediately had to take the statements made by the Undersecretary of Prevention and Health Promotion at a press conference into account. He continued: "The cover-up that several of you are wearing."referring to the journalists present at the conference, "is helping to keep you from infecting someone else in case you are sick."; in contrast, he said right away: But we have to be very aware that "the mask" does not help us as a protective barrier individually"..
As the number of active COVID-19 cases in Mexico increased, the narrative passed its baton to the Government of Mexico in recent days, implying that the Ministry of Health would not sign off on the data presented on a daily basis.
Current Overview
The month of November brought negative consequences for Mexico in terms of increased mobility: the Day of the Dead festivities that are actively celebrated throughout the country and beyond its borders; the event organized by the country's Ministry of Economy that seeks to support the family economy through formal commerce with offers in stores throughout the country through the program called "El Buen Fin".
It should be noted that during the same period, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, a soccer game was played in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, which was in orange on the "risk traffic light".
In this same week, Mexico was the focus of attention in the international media when it became, on November 20 - 110th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution - the fourth country to reach the sad figure of 100,000 deaths after the United States, Brazil and India.
It is because of this lack of attention from the federal government that: "The Ministry of Health reports this November 30, 2020 that, in Mexico, there are 61,631 active cases and 149,186 suspected cases of COVID-19; 105,900,40 people have died and 73.9 percent of the cases have recovered."The report was signed by the Government of Mexico.
It is because of such statements made by Hugo Lopez-Gatell, the contradictory social communication narrative of the presidency of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and the lack of monitoring of sanitary measures such as staying at home, the recommended use of face masks, practicing physical distancing between people in public spaces ? "healthy distance"? that the warning from the WHO demands a response from the Government of Mexico. A serious response, as Tedros Adhanom pointed out.
