Mexico’s COVID-19 Traffic Light Monitoring System: News For January 10–23, 2022 – Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The COVID-19 Omicron variant is causing an increase in the rate
of infection throughout Mexico (as elsewhere globally), resulting
in the federal government’s decision to direct three of
Mexico’s thirty-two states to take strong measures to control
the spread of the pandemic, such as limiting business affairs to
only essential activities and significantly reducing on-site worker
capacity.

The worsening pandemic has also prompted the Mexican Social
Security Institute (IMSS) to relaunch a program that provides
individuals who have contracted COVID-19 with a “COVID-19 Permit,” which beneficiaries can
use to take leave from work and receive a sick-leave subsidy from
the IMSS. Individuals who have contracted the virus and who are
symptomatic are entitled to take seven days of subsidized leave.
Individuals who have received a positive test result but are not
displaying symptoms are entitled to five subsidized days of leave.
Individuals whose leave is approved by the IMSS must notify their
employers to justify their absences from work.

Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, and Tamaulipas are the three states currently
operating under orange status restrictions, according to the
federal government’s traffic light pandemic monitoring system. States in orange status
limit the number of workers allowed on-site, among other
restrictions. Another ten states, up from only three in the previous edition of this report, are in yellow
status, at which point all work activities are allowed, but with
measures taken to reduce the risk of infection among people at high
risk of developing severe COVID-19–related symptoms.

The biweekly four-tiered monitoring system was implemented in
June 2020 and is used to alert residents to the epidemiological
risks of COVID-19 and provide guidance on restrictions on certain
activities in each of the country’s states. Below is a map for
the period of January 10–23, 2022, indicating the COVID-19
risk level in each of the states and the capital.

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. Some
states may impose lesser or greater restrictions than those imposed
by the federal government. For example, Baja California, which the federal government
designated in yellow status, has imposed orange-status
restrictions. And Tamaulipas has decided to impose red-status
restrictions in many of its municipalities, meaning that only
essential activities are allowed.

Vaccinations and Pandemic Key Indicators

Ninety-one percent of the nearly 82.7 million people who have
been vaccinated to date have been fully vaccinated, the federal
Ministry of Health stated in its January 12, 2022, Daily Technical Report. The daily report also
pointed out that a little more than 201.3 million vaccine doses had
been made available so far.

According to the Ministry of Health’s pandemic tracking
data, since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been more
than 4.2 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. The data also shows that
as of January 13, 2022, 300,912 people had died of
COVID-19–related complications. (The number of
COVID-19–related deaths could be higher, according to federal data on “excess
mortality.”)

Mexico City

Mexico City’s pandemic
tracking data reveals that as of January 12, 2022, more
than 52,000 COVID-19 cases had been confirmed since New Year’s
Day. However, the Mexico City Monitoring Committee has not updated
its October 2021 decree designating the
capital in green status. Therefore, since early November 2021, business and social
affairs in Mexico City have generally been approved to take place
without restriction.

The committee also 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 total or partial temporary suspensions 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.