{"id":54948,"date":"2020-03-30T09:40:13","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T14:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=54948"},"modified":"2020-03-30T09:40:14","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T14:40:14","slug":"mexicos-president-shifts-tone-on-coronavirus-urges-people-to-stay-home-warns-of-dire-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=54948","title":{"rendered":"Mexico’s president shifts tone on coronavirus, urges people to stay home, warns of dire consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Patrick J. McDonnell and Cecilia Sanchez <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tribune News Service<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MEXICO CITY — As the coronavirus pandemic spread globally, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been criticized at home and abroad for what many called a lackadaisical posture — urging people to hug, shaking hands and kissing well-wishers as he stumped and extolling his personal good-luck charms such as Catholic scapulars, a shamrock and $2 bill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Because of our culture, Mexicans are very resistant to calamities,” the president said in a video filmed a week ago in a Oaxaca city eatery and circulated on social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Continue bringing the family to eat in restaurants,” Lopez Obrador advised compatriots, arguing such activity bolsters “the popular economy.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the president and his team have shifted their message radically in recent days, as virus cases have begun surging, urging people to stay home and to practice social distancing — and warning of dire results if that advice is ignored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although still avoiding curfews and mandatory stay-at-home orders, Mexican authorities are now abruptly citing a final chance to avert a national catastrophe that would inundate the country’s limited healthcare infrastructure and probably result in many deaths. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Don’t go out into the street unless it is for something absolutely necessary,” Lopez Obrador told the nation in a sober YouTube address Friday evening from the northern border city of Tijuana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have to be in our homes. We have to maintain a safe distance.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The consequences of flouting the stay-at-home directive, he added, could be calamitous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The number of infection cases will spike upwards and will overwhelm our hospitals,” Lopez Obrador declared, painting a grim scenario in stark contrast to his previously upbeat assessments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We won’t have enough hospitals, beds, even if we are prepared to receive thousands.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An even more dire appraisal came late Saturday from Hugo Lopez-Gatell, undersecretary of health and the president’s coronavirus point man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is the last chance we have. We can’t lose it,” Lopez-Gatell said in a somber-toned news briefing. “We are saying to everyone: ‘Stay at home.’ … It’s the only way to reduce this virus.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of late Saturday, Mexico had reported 848 cases and 16 deaths, a low number compared with neighboring United States, which reported nearly 125,000 cases and at least 1,668 deaths as of Saturday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the first confirmed coronavirus infection was not reported in Mexico until late February, more than a month after the first case appeared in the United States. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent days, however, Mexico has begun seeing rapidly accelerating numbers, pointing to the kind of steep surge seen in nations where coronavirus struck earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With cases rising “exponentially,” Lopez-Gatell warned, the sweep of the virus would soon be beyond containment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mexico has endeavored to enact a balancing act between preserving the public health while limiting damage to the nation’s sputtering economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Lopez Obrador conceded Friday that the economic effects of an unrestrained pandemic could be much worse than the financial fallout from people staying at home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the latest ominous warnings, Mexican officials have still refrained from imposing mandatory stay-at-home orders and the shut borders seen in other nations, hoping to avoid massive economic and social displacement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonessential government workers have been told to stay home, and the Holy Week break has been extended for schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials have also urged private businesses to let people work remotely. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some local governments have gone further. Mexico City has closed bars, theaters, churches, museums and other venues, while banning gatherings of more than 50 people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But restaurants and shops remain open in the capital, and street life continues at a much-reduced but still substantial pace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For weeks, the Mexican president and other authorities have been reassuring the public that Mexico possesses adequate medical infrastructure — including hospital beds, medicines and equipment — to deal with the pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But doctors and nurses have taken to the streets in recent days across the country protesting what they call a lack of face masks, gowns, gloves and other essentials as the country braces to confront a worsening crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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