Hospitals overwhelmed by cases of coronavirus in Mexico City

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City’s head of government, says the city’s hospitals are overcrowded.

MEXICO CITY (Times Media Mexico) – The National Institute of Respiratory Diseases already has a saturation of people requiring intubation, CDMX Chief of Government Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday afternoon.

“On Saturday, I reported 468 people intubated in hospitals in Mexico City. The figure for last night is 524 people intubated and 1,123 people hospitalized. There is 34% saturation, but as you are seeing, it is growing significantly, at this time there are hospitals that are saturated, for example, the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases already has a saturation of people who require intubation. Still, we are looking to expand the capacity of INER,” explained Sheinbaum.

In a video conference, Sheinbaum said that at this time there are no conditions to reactivate economic activity in the nation’s capital, and stressed that restrictions on mobility would be lifted as of May 30, as recommended by federal authorities. “At this moment, to return to work in the face of the pandemic is unacceptable. It is irresponsible since there is more contact between people. More sick people will be there, more fans will have to be used, and more deaths will occur, then, it cannot be contradicted at this moment, The fact that we are returning to economic activity sooner in the face of the health situation, the two things have to go hand in hand, and we have to understand that at this time there is no other option but to stay at home. The healthy distance to be able to face the global pandemic” considered the head of government.

She clarified that the Citibanamex Center, which will be enabled as a temporary unit of COVID-19, will not attend to severe patients.
“I think we are going to go there before it starts to be used, obviously, probably on Wednesday we will do it, we are already designing everything, there is a special hiring of doctors there, so we also wanted at least 70% of the hiring of doctors so that we could present it so that it could start to be used probably next week,” Sheinbaum explained.

Sheinbaum reporta hospitales saturados por casos de coronavirus

The head of government said that the measures that will be implemented once phase 3 of the COVID-19 outbreak is declared are being evaluated. Still, she ruled out a curfew in the city or extreme measures such as fines or detention of people on the streets.