To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com.
The pandemic appears for the time being to be held in check in
Mexico, as the majority of the adult population has been fully
vaccinated. Social and business activities are open without
restriction in 28 of the nation’s 32 states, according to the
federal government’s
pandemic monitoring system.
Only Aguascalientes and
the northern states of Baja
California, Chihuahua,
and Sonora are in yellow
status under the four-tiered COVID-19 traffic light monitoring
system, which is updated every other week to reflect changes in
infection and hospitalization rates, among other factors. Durango,
the only other state in yellow status in the
report for December 13-26, 2021, was upgraded to green status,
meaning that pandemic-related social and business restrictions have
been lifted. Residents in states designated in yellow status are
urged to take preventative measures to ensure individuals at high
risk of contracting COVID-19 (e.g., individuals with comorbidities
such as diabetes, hypertension, or obesity) are not infected.
This
chart presents the traffic light status of each state,
and, as applicable, variations between federal and local traffic
light statuses based on publications of the federal Ministry of
Health and status reports provided by each state. Below is a map
for the period of December 27, 2021, through January 9, 2022,
indicating the COVID-19 risk level in each of the states and the
capital.
Vaccinations and Pandemic Key Indicators
As of December 29, 2021, about 88 percent of Mexico’s adult
population had been at least partially vaccinated, according to the
Ministry of Health. Authorities are also continuing to prioritize
booster shots for medical personnel and subsequently will make the
shots available to teachers in green-status states after providing
booster shots for individuals 60 years of age and older.
According to the Ministry of Health’s pandemic tracking
data, since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been more
than 3.9 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, of which there are
46,045 are currently active. Slightly more than 3.3 million people
who contracted the virus have recovered. The data also shows that
the pandemic has taken a heavy toll, with 299,544 people having
died of COVID-19-related complications. (According to federal
data on “excess mortality,” the number of deaths
caused by the pandemic could be higher.)
The tracking data does not yet indicate the impact and spread of
the Omicron variant, but the Ministry of Health’s
undersecretary of prevention and health promotion said in a
December 28, 2021, press conference that 42 cases had been
found, “and more will continue to appear . to the extent that
the epidemic continues to be active in the world and in
Mexico.”
In light of the above, federal health authorities are still
urging the population to reduce the risk of infection by complying
with sanitary measures, such as frequently washing hands and
wearing face masks when in social or business settings.
Mexico City
According to Mexico City
pandemic tracking data, the capital has seen an uptick of just
under 7,200 new confirmed COVID-19 cases since December 15, 2021, a
number low enough for the Mexico City Monitoring Committee to allow
the capital to remain in green status, where it has been
since
early November. The greater Mexico City region is home to about
20 percent of the nation’s population.
The committee has not updated the guidelines for
private corporate offices, so employers may want to continue to
limit the percentage of employees working on-site to 80 percent, in
accordance with Mexico City’s industry-specific
health protection guidelines. Employers in corporate office
settings may also want to follow guidance stipulating that
employers provide at their own expense and on a weekly basis rapid
antigen tests or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction
(RT-PCR) tests for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, to at
least 20 percent of the personnel attending work on-site.
Finally, the verification visits by the Administrative
Verification Institute along with other Mexico City government
authorities will continue to verify compliance with general and
specific sanitary measures for health protection in workplaces.
Employers found to be out of compliance with the measures may be
fined or be subject to the total or partial temporary suspension of
work centers for up to 15 calendar days. Noncompliant employers may
also be subject to other applicable sanctions.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
POPULAR ARTICLES ON: Coronavirus (COVID-19) from Mexico
