PUERTO VALLARTA (PVDN) – The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) issued a statement on Monday, expressing concern about the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. While the numbers of hospitalizations, deaths, and viral variants remain stable, the university is advising students to don masks, particularly in crowded and indoor settings. The call to action comes during a challenging period of extensive travel for the holidays, involving both Mexican citizens and foreign visitors flocking to the country’s renowned beaches.
According to the Epidemiological Surveillance System responsible for monitoring disease incidence, the penultimate week of July witnessed 1,597 COVID-19 cases. This represents a nearly 50% decrease from the 3,256 cases recorded in the second week of the month. This decrease is especially noteworthy compared to the same period last year: in the third week of July 2022, there were 164,585 positive cases. So far in 2023, the total stands at 359,281 cases, a significant drop from the 2,685,367 cases reported in 2022.
Despite the non-alarming nature of the current statistics, UNAM, the foremost university in Mexico, is urging students to protect themselves with masks as they return to class. The university is set to reopen on September 11 and is asking its students to be considerate of the most vulnerable, such as those with pre-existing conditions that could exacerbate the spread of the virus. To this end, it is advising those experiencing symptoms of acute respiratory illness, such as flu, cold, cough, sore throat, or fever, to self-isolate.
This latest uptick is a far cry from the harrowing peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 9, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador declared the end of the health emergency, mere days after the World Health Organization (WHO) made a similar declaration. Mexico has shown resilience in the face of the pandemic, boasting reduced infection and death rates, and high immunity levels among its population. Despite this, the disease has claimed the lives of approximately 334,000 people, according to conservative estimates by authorities.
While the majority of citizens are keen to consign the virus to history, there are those who continue to live in its shadow. Persistent “mask-wearing” is still visible on Mexico City’s streets, and the echo of survivors’ stories reverberates on social media. The country is also grappling with the challenge of ‘long COVID’, a condition affecting an estimated 10% to 20% of those infected. This condition, marked by lingering damage to the respiratory or neurological systems, is yet to be widely recognized in Mexico and is rarely addressed within its public health system.
PUERTO VALLARTA (PVDN) - The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) issued a statement on Monday, expressing concern about the recent spike in COVID-19 cases. While the numbers of hospitalizations, deaths, and viral variants remain stable, the university is advising students to don masks, particularly in crowded and indoor settings. The call to action comes during a challenging period of extensive travel for the holidays, involving both Mexican citizens and foreign visitors flocking to the country's renowned beaches.
