Concerns in Cd. Juarez Over Lack of Federal, State, Transparency About Coronavirus Tally, Testing, and Preparation

Several items in Diario in the past two days confirm widespread  suspicion in Juarez that Covid-19 cases in Juarez are being under-counted.  El Paso, with highly limited testing, shows 57 cases of coronavirus (possibly more because Ft. Bliss has been ordered by the Dept of Defense to cease providing information about the number of Covid-19 cases uncovered there).  In Juarez the official count still stands at six.  Asked to explain why El Paso would have 10 times more cases than Juarez, the state health director of the Northern Health District of Chihuahua,  Arturo Valenzuela Zorrilla, said (click here) "our cities in Chihuahua are relatively protected since they are isolated in comparison with other cities in the country.  Cd. Juarez is far from other highly populated cities."    Note:  El Paso County, right across the river from Juarez, has an estimated population of about 900,000.

Members of the Citizens Medical Committeen(an entity of the Municipality of Juarez) have stated that the federal government has not managed Covid-19 in a professional manner, and accused the federal government of not providing information or coordination within the federal health sector.

1.  An un-attributed report in Diario today (click here) shows the official tally of pneumonia victims reported by public is high in comparison with last year, giving rise to widespread suspicions that coronavirus cases have been reported simply as "pneumonia," disguising the true spread of Covid-19.

2.  The president of the Mexican Chamber of Industry and Construction issued a statement (click here) saying "we are following instructions we've been given (about Covid-19), but as we look at information provided by authorities we don't know if they are accurate or not, so we suggest people should take precaution to avoid risks."


3.  In the same story (click here) The president of the Association of Transport Carriers, Manuel Sotelo, told Diario "we don't have information from both sides (state or federal government).  The (state) government said all is well, the Citizens Medical Committee (within the City of Juarez) says not.  (What we need) is for the (state) government to give us the information it has because it is important to know if one of the levels of government is hiding information."  "in addition," he said, we understand the federal government doesn't have enough testing kits available.  I am not happy to see that we don't have money to do testing, or for respirators, and enough hospital beds, while we are thinking of investing in other things.  We believe the health of Mexicans should come first."

4.  The President of Coparmex (Mexican Employer's Association) said (click here)  "I don't thing they are hiding data, because the don't have data to know how many cases there are so you can't distinguish if a person's symptoms are those of a normal cough or Covid-19."