Information from Press Conferences and Official Media

Federal Information

(October 22, 2020)

Health Secretary

- Dr. José Luis Alomía, Director of Epidemiology, indicated that in Nuevo León there is an increase similar to the previous one (July 2020), however, he also mentioned that it is a positive feature that mortality is still on a downward trend.

- Regarding the decision of the Government of Chihuahua to raise the red traffic light, the Undersecretary, Dr. López Gatell, congratulated the Government of Chihuahua for taking actions and measures to combat the outbreak in the State. He assured that an active dialogue is being maintained with the state government and reiterated his confidence in the Secretary of Health of the State of Chihuahua.

- Dr. López Gatell indicated the importance of the challenge of economic reactivation, since it is not possible to reactivate a country's economy if the pandemic is not controlled throughout the world, since the contemporary economy is interconnected.

- Finally, he emphasized that it is expected that the COVID-19 vaccines that arrive will be included in the universal vaccination program. He affirmed that there is money, will, capacity and decision to vaccinate all the people who need to be protected. It is a priority of the Mexican Government to have universal access to the vaccine and that the correct vaccination schedule will be decided, together with the specialists, taking into account the best practices and recommendations of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization.

State Information

(October 22, 2020)

Health Secretary

- Despite the fact that the indicator of positive tests changed to red, the Secretary of Health announced that there will be no business closures, but reminded that restaurants, churches and other establishments must maintain the permitted capacity.

- Dr. Manuel de la O commented that, together with the Governor of the State, the Secretary of Economy and the Secretary of Government, there was a meeting with the mayors of all the municipalities to ask for their support in dealing with the pandemic, and noted that the mayors endorsed their support to stop the outbreak. He added the possibility of indefinitely cancelling businesses that are repeat offenders.

- In relation to the mobile markets, he indicated that these are of a municipal nature and that in the meeting held with the mayors, they were asked to reinforce measures since many of these markets have essential products.

- He mentioned that, if there are negative changes in the indicators of contagions and hospitalizations, they will have to suspend important sectors for the economic reactivation, although they do not want to resort to this measure since it would be disastrous because there would be a health crisis plus a worse economic crisis than the one we are currently facing.

- Regarding the current conditions of the hospitals, the Secretary of Health shared that they are adequate because they were prepared before the pandemic and there are sufficient supplies. However, he stated that the medical staff is exhausted, worried and sad to see how the numbers are increasing.

- He remembered the medical personnel who have died from COVID-19. Nationally, 1,410 medical personnel have died, while in Nuevo Leon, 51 people have died. Regarding contagions, at the federal level there have been 104,590 in medical personnel while in Nuevo Leon, 1,522.

- Regarding the electoral process, he commented that a protocol is being prepared to be presented to the State Electoral Commission and that once it is ready, it will be made known.

- Finally, he spoke about the protocols of the COVID-19 vaccination trial of Zambrano Hospital, San José Hospital and the Secretariat of Health. He explained that the vaccine to be applied by the Zambrano and San José Hospitals is of German origin while the one to be applied by the Ministry of Health is Chinese. He clarified that there are inclusion and exclusion criteria that will be taken into account for volunteers to participate and that will be made public.

Number of cases

Economic Situation

Financial indicators

Main economic news

(21 de Octubre de 2020)

- Mexico is at the bottom of emerging economies' performance: Banxico. Irene Espinoza, deputy governor of the central bank, indicated that Latin America is one of the regions most affected by the pandemic (Milenio). https://bit.ly/34nSUhm

- Sener's electricity policy 'frozen' for at least three years. President López Obrador said that if necessary, he will change the Constitution (El Financiero). https://bit.ly/31yqFKS

- Mexican peso rises due to dollar weakness, outlines fourth weekly increase. The local currency was trading at 21.1648 units per dollar, with a gain of 0.32%, compared to 21.0980 at the Reuters reference price on Wednesday (El Economista). https://bit.ly/2HyKACb

World News

- Trump promises in debate vaccine by the end of the year. President Donald Trump defended his response to the coronavirus pandemic and assured that the vaccine will come in the next few weeks, during the last presidential debate against Democratic candidate Joe Biden. https://bit.ly/3dQIxp8

- Europe surpasses the Americas in active cases of covid-19. The Ministry of Health announced that Europe surpassed the Americas as the region with the most active cases of covid-19, with 35.2 percent of active cases in the last 14 days, making it the epicenter of the pandemic again after several months. https://bit.ly/31B7HmP

- Death of Covid vaccine volunteer investigated. A Covid-19 vaccine trial volunteer from drugmaker AstraZeneca and Oxford University has died, Brazilian health authorities said Wednesday, without giving further details. A Bloomberg News report stated that the participant had not received the vaccine, according to a source with knowledge who spoke on condition of anonymity. https://bit.ly/2Hrfb58