Federal Judge in Mexico orders government to take actions against COVID-19

A federal judge in Mexico City has ordered the Government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador to adopt all the necessary measures to detect people infected with coronavirus in the country, in the midst of criticism of the president for his passivity in the face of the pandemic.

The head of the Thirteenth District Court on City Administrative Matters has thus received a petition from the NGO Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity, which had denounced "the failure to establish effective security measures to prevent the spread" of the coronavirus.

"The inactivity and lack of timely intervention (…) can translate into the advance of the virus and even in the spread in the Mexican territory," the judge has indicated, for which she has ordered "the responsible authorities" to "implement preventive measures and actions to detect infected people ".

The judge explained that she has ruled in favor of the NGO because, if Covid-19 continues its advance through Mexico, "it would be impossible to restore the complaining party to the enjoyment of the human right to health and life."

The judicial resolution names López Obrador as "responsible authorities"; the Secretary of Health, Jorge Alcocer; and to the Undersecretary for Prevention and Health Promotion, Hugo López Gatell; to whom she urges to inform within 24 hours about the measures adopted in compliance with it, according to the Mexican newspaper 'El Universal'.

López Obrador is being widely criticized for the lack of measures against the pandemic. The Mexican president has insisted that he will act exclusively guided by the advice of the specialists, who - as he points out - affirm that the country is still in a first phase that does not require further action.