• FACE MASKS: President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) dismissed today the positive impact that face mask use could have on Mexico’s economic recovery. Mexico is number four in the list of countries with most coronavirus deaths during the current global pandemic.
• DISMISSIVE: “I think it is way out of proportion. I wish it were that way”, López Obrador said today during a press conference. “If the face mask was an option for the reactivation of the economy, well, I would put it on immediately! But it is not like that”.
• RESISTANCE: Since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic in late February, the Mexican president has resisted wearing a face mask in public. The only time when López Obrador was seen wearing a surgical covering was when he traveled to the US to meet President Donald Trump early this month.
• IMPACT: In June, investment bank Goldman Sachs concluded that the economic benefit of increased face mask use in the US could be sizable. On Tuesday, Mexico’s Finance Minister said that face masks were one of the elements for a successful economic recovery. Mexico’s GDP is expected to shrink 10.5% in 2020, according the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
