The Undersecretary of Health in Mexico, Hugo López-Gatell, pointed out that the population that is “now affected” by the COVID-19 pandemic are young people.
“The people that are now affected (by COVID-19) is the young population (…) You can also be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico and in the world (…) The majority of people who are hospitalized for COVID at this time are already people under 52 years of age and the vast majority are people who were not vaccinated; more than 97% ”, he stressed in the morning conference on Tuesday.
Despite the exponential increase in infections in young people, the epidemiologist ruled out that younger people are at greater risk of serious illness or death.
“Although we have a third rebound, the proportion of people who arrive at the hospital or who sadly lose their lives is lower, due to the fact that the third wave is among people at lower risk,” he explained.
However, the official shared six prevention recommendations for the youth who are now the main target of the disease:
- Consider the probable symptoms of COVID-19, such as fever, cough, headache, sore throat, sudden fatigue and certain digestive symptoms: “Assume you have COVID even if you are a young person,” Gatell reiterated.
- Do not perform the active strip test (the “box”), since, as it is an antibody sample, it will show a negative result even when the person is in the acute phase of the disease.
“The negative result of the test can give you a falsely sustained confidence that you do not have the disease (…) Nor is it any proof that a person is protected and can access public places without risk,” he recalled.
Therefore, he reiterated that the most convenient test for these symptoms is the one in which the respiratory specimen is taken at test kiosks or hospital units.
- Do not self-medicate, since improperly administered doses of any drug can lead to a poor evolution of the contagion.
- In case of being positive for COVID-19, go to medical monitoring, mainly for oxygenation; levels below 93% reflect inability to properly oxygenate the body.
“If it starts to go down; if it is reduced by two percentage points in the same day, it can be an important warning sign that requires you to go to the hospital to be treated,” said Gatell.
- If the patient has breathing difficulties, call 991 so that they can be referred immediately to a hospital unit for medical attention, as this symptom is considered a critical emergency of COVID-19.
- Get vaccinated.
“Young people, get vaccinated. It is important. Even if you are a healthy person, the vaccine is also useful for you and your family to avoid further spreading the disease,” he urged.
On July 19, Mexico registered 138 deaths and 5,307 new cases of COVID-19 in the country in 24 hours. With these figures, there are 2,664,444 infections and 236,469 deaths caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
