Data from the Federal Ministry of Health indicate that in Puerto Vallarta there are three hospitals at or near capacity in their designated COVID-19 wards.
Puerto Vallarta Naval Hospital is reporting no available beds for treating COVID-19 patients, while General Hospital is reporting 96% occupancy of COVID-19 beds. Puerto Vallarta Regional Hospital reports 60% occupancy for COVID-19 care. These statistics are only related to beds designated for COVID-19 care, not total hospital occupancy.
Due to the increase in Covid-19 infections in recent weeks, Jalisco authorities are once again converting hospital beds for specialized care of patients with symptoms of severe respiratory disease.
The growth in hospitalizations in the state has been exponential: for July 1, 186 people in Jalisco were hospitalized for confirmed or suspected cases of Covid-19, while for this Tuesday, July 20, 563 were reported, which indicates that in the last two weeks the number of hospitalizations tripled.
In the worst-case scenario, the state government has the possibility of enabling up to 4,068 hospital beds for care. At the highest peak of people hospitalized in Jalisco, there were 2,013 people hospitalized on January 28.
After the Governor of Jalisco sent an official letter to the Federal Government requesting permission to begin vaccination for all ages and tourism areas, such as Puerto Vallarta, the governor said the Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell, has not responded and accused him of being “absolutely irresponsible.”
“He is absolutely irresponsible and we are going to ask that the states be integrated into decision-making and where to direct the vaccines and be able to accelerate the processes,” said the governor of Jalisco after a meeting with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) in Mexico City.
He affirmed that “it is a matter of common sense” and gave Puerto Vallarta as an example, where hospitalizations soared, so it was suggested that vaccination efforts can be focused on the tourist destination because there the level of risk is higher and there are targeted infections.
