Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his Covid-19 czar, Hugo López-Gatell, believe the country is well equipped to face the projected peak of the coronavirus epidemic in the first week of May.
“This epidemic is accelerating, which means there is an increasing number of cases every day and that also applies to geographical spread,” Deputy Health Minister López-Gatell said April 21, noting that Mexico had now entered the third and most critical phase of the disease.
This stage of the emergency will see the highest number of hospitalizations and place a heavy burden on the nation’s public health sector, López Obrador confirmed on the weekend.
The president said by the time the Covid-19 peak hits, Mexico will have amassed around 13,000 ventilators. Currently, just over 350 intensive care patients with the disease are hooked up to the devices in hospitals in Mexico City and other states.
China recently sent 200 ventilators to Mexico, and has promised an additional 450 before May 2. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump personally promised his Mexican counterpart that he would guarantee Mexico 1,000 ventilators before the end of the month. López Obrador said Trump offered additional resources to support Mexico’s health care system.
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