COVID-19: Mexico’s Phase Two

By Edgar Origel and Alvaro Fox

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 24, 2020, the Mexican Government declared that Mexico is on Phase 2 Community Transmission of COVID-19. This means that the virus began to spread internally. In this Phase, the Mexican Government has taken the following actions to prevent the rapid spread of the virus:

Secretary of Public Health:

• Maintain a safety distance, whereby every person must be at least 1.5 meters away from each other.
• Protect and take care of the elderly and risk groups.
• Suspend all academic activities at all levels from March 23, 2020 to April 19, 2020.
• Suspend all events and meetings of more than 100 people.
• Suspend work activities that involve the mobilization of people in all sectors (if possible, wrorking from home is recommended).
• Intensify basic prevention measures.
• Hiring of 43,000 health professionals (intensive care therapists, urologists, internal medicine, pulmonologists, infectologists, anesthesiologists).

Secretary of National Defense:

Implementation of the DNIII plan, which consists of three phases:

Preventive Phase:

• Coordinate with State and Municipal Authorities.
• Coordinate plan with all health authorities.
• Conduct census of hospital facilities capacities, transportation, medications and needs.
• Conduct census of medical and nursing staff.
• Recruit medical and nursing staff.
• Distribute specialized equipment and medicine.
• Implement a logistics distribution and concentration system.
• Prepare hospital facilities.
• Install provisional health units.

Relief Phase:

• Activate and use military hospital facilities, operating units adapted to hospitals and hospitals belonging to the health sector.
• Purchase and distribute specialized equipment and medicine.
• Activate and administer provisional hospitals.
• Distribute medical supplies in the health sector.

Recovery Phase:

• Clean and disinfect hospital facilities and medical equipment.
• Conduct census and storage of special supplies.
• Distribute graphic memorandum.
• Evaluate processes and phases.
• Submit a final report.

Secretary of the Navy:

Implementation of the Navy plan, which consists of installation of voluntary isolation, attention facilities to severe cases, and use of aircrafts as ambulances and to move health staff, equipment or patients.

Secretary of Finance:

• Additional budget of $4,500.00 million pesos to the Secretary of National Defense.
• Additional budget of $500.00 million pesos to the Secretary of the Navy.
• Additional budget of $25,000.00 million pesos to the Institute of Health for Well-being to pay pensions and acquire medicine.
• Authorized budget of $128,000.00 million pesos to the Secretary of Public Health.
• Authorized budget of $825,000.00 million pesos to the Social Security Agency ("IMSS").
• Authorized budget of $349,000.00 million to the Public Server’s Social Security Services ("ISSSTE").