https://www.prensa.com/mundo/mexico-eleva-nivel-de-alerta-ante-aumento-acelerado-de-casos-de-coronavirus/

Mexico raised the level of the health alert on Tuesday in the face of an accelerated increase in the spread of the new coronavirus , which fears a saturation of the hospital system, the government reported.

“Today we want to start phase three of the Covid epidemic, remembering that we are in the phase of rapid ascent, where a large number of infections, of hospitalizations will accumulate,” said Mexico’s undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell , in conference with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The government of Mexico reported until Monday 8,772 positive cases and 712 deaths from the virus, and estimates that the highest peak of infections is expected between May 8 and 10.

The areas that report the highest number of cases are Mexico City, Baja California (north), Sinaloa (northwest) and Coahuila (northeast).

“This epidemic continues more and more rapidly, this means that more and more cases occur per day and this is also represented by a geographical dispersion,” said López-Gatell.

Before this stage, called by the Ministry of Health as Phase 3 and characterized by an intensification of the spread of the virus, the official reiterated that the population must abide by social distancing measures to try to stop the contagions.

“A second characteristic of phase (3) of the epidemic is the occurrence of thousands of cases in different regions of the country,” said López-Gatell.

The government suspended all its non-essential activities until May 30 and urged the population to stay home, although quarantine is still not mandatory.

López-Gatell noted that the pandemic already has a presence throughout the country, mainly in urban areas, although little transmission has been detected in some rural areas.

The health authority said that the municipalities that maintain a low transmission of the Covid-19 will be able to lift the social distancing measures on May 17.