Mexico’s National Guard arrives at hospitals to protect doctors and nurses from growing violence

The coronavirus contingency has caused readjustments in the operation of different public and private institutions. It has also required a greater effort by health personnel, who are the first in the battle line against the virus. This is due to the fact that recently there have been reports of attacks and acts of discrimination against workers in the healthcare sector of Mexico.

Given this situation, the government has called on the population to stop attacks on health personnel who are treating patients with COVID-19. At a morning press conference, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador assured: “Nothing could be achieved without health workers, that is why our recognition and the respectful call to the entire population to care for health personnel, respect them, love them, everyone”.

As part of these actions, the National Guard announced Wednesday the order to protect IMSS hospitals around the country. Through its Twitter account, the state security agency reported that the medical units would be monitored: “We will provide security to facilities, medical personnel and supplies to guarantee service to citizens who require it .”

In the first stage of the strategy of safeguarding the hospitals that care for coronavirus patients, the National Guard watches, this Wednesday April 15, 84 medical units in 19 states, which are: Baja California, Chihuahua, Mexico City , Coahuila, State of Mexico, Guerrero, Jalisco, Michoacán, Morelos, Nuevo León, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Yucatán and Zacatecas.

Alejandro Murat Hinojosa, governor of the state of Oaxaca, denounced the possible theft of medical equipment to serve patients with COVID-19 at the Civil Hospital “Aurelio Valdivieso” in the capital of Oaxaca. The state governor said in an interview for the Oaxacan Radio Organization (ORO) that at least 20 medical equipment pieces for the care of people infected with the virus had disappeared from the facilities.

In the rest of the states, the National Guard is collaborating with federal, state and municipal authorities to provide security to medical units. In addition, personnel who are not assigned to the hospital ward are working on crime prevention and the dissemination of sanitary measures in support of medical, civil protection and public security personnel in the states and municipalities of the country.

In addition to this, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) reported through a press release that the reinforcement of security and hygiene measures inside and outside hospitals has been launched with the aim of preserving the integrity and health of medical personnel and relatives of patients. In addition, it invited the population not to carry out acts of attack on health workers:

“The IMSS calls for an end to attacks against medical personnel , which is the first line of battle against the country’s health emergency.”