• MILITARY: The Mexican military will take over the control of 34 civilian public hospitals in order to confront the coronavirus outbreak, a decision that expands a growing list of tasks that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has put under their purview since taking office in 2018.
• NUMBERS: As of late Tuesday, Mexico’s Ministry of Health officially reported 1,215 confirmed coronavirus cases and a total of 29 confirmed deaths. Mexico City accounts for almost 20% share of confirmed cases followed by neighboring Estado de México with 10% share of total.
• MANAGEMENT: “I asked (the military) to present to me with a program…for them to operate new hospitals. That is: finish hospitals, equip them, hire doctors, specialists, buy medicines”, said López Obrador. Other new military tasks include: building a civilian airport and distributing school books.
• INTENSIVE CARE: According to the Luis Cresencio Sandoval, Mexico’s Minister of National Defense, the idea will be for each hospital to have at least 30 intensive care unit (ICU) beds. In March, Mexico’s Health Ministry said the country had a total capacity of 4,291 ICU beds.
