Mexico beginning to recover from pandemic, president says

Mexico City, Jul 1 (EFE).- The economy and the state of public health are moving in the right direction as Mexico works to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Thursday.

“Encouraging signs of recovery from the health and economic crisis have appeared,” the leftist head of state said in a speech marking the third anniversary of the July 1, 2018, election that put him in office.

Coronavirus has killed more than 233,000 people in Mexico, according to official figures, though the health department says that the total number of excess deaths associated with the pandemic exceeds 350,000.

Only the United States, Brazil and India have lost more lives to Covid-19.

The number of confirmed cases in Mexico recently topped 2.5 million.

Lopez Obrador, however, noted that the pace of contagion slowed “considerably” over the last three months, as has the rise of the death toll.

Besides crediting the “positive effect” of vaccines and other medical interventions and expressing gratitude to health care workers, he praised the Mexican people for their willingness to abide by recommendations from public health officials and look after their neighbors.

“May we not erase from memory the way that older people and those who suffer chronic illnesses were cared for,” the president, known as AMLO, said, hailing the “solidarity” demonstrated by Mexicans.

“Regarding our conduct, we have done everything that was humanly possible to confront this pandemic and save lives,” he said on behalf of the government.

Insisting that his administration inherited a public health system “in ruins,” he pointed to the steps he took to increase the health budget.

And while saying that it was not appropriate to draw comparisons among “tragic” situations, AMLO stressed that Mexico is not one of the countries with the highest Covid-19 mortality rates.

The national immunization program has administered the more than 57 million vaccine doses received so far in every corner of Mexico and 35 percent of the population has received at least one shot, he said.

“I highlight the support of Cuba, Argentina, the United States, Russia, China, India,” AMLO said, referring to the countries that have provided vaccine and other medical supplies to Mexico. EFE

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