Mexico City goes to high risk alert due to increase of Covid-19 infections in young people

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Mexico City is in epidemiological traffic light orange (high risk) due to the increase in recent weeks in cases of infection of young people with Covid-19. However, there will be no new restriction measures, informed this Friday (23) the Government of the capital.

The absence of new measures is justified, according to Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, because next week vaccination will begin for people between 18 and 29 years old, and the increase in hospitalizations is not too significant.

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On the other hand, after several weeks with a large increase in positive tests, this week the situation stabilized, she said.

“There is a vital part, and that is that this past week the positivity stabilized. The best thing is to keep vaccinating, vaccinating, and vaccinating. And in particular to give a message to young people, to help us to avoid a greater number of infections,” Sheinbaum said.

For his part, Eduardo Clark, general director of Digital Government of the Digital Agency for Public Innovation (ADIP), insisted that the positive tests of the last week may be “an early sign that it is stabilizing.”

They again recalled that this third wave of infection is highly concentrated in people aged 18 to 39. The number of infections in this age group represents almost two-thirds of the number of cases in the entire population. Meanwhile, infections in people between 60 and 69 years of age represent one-fifth.

As for the number of people hospitalized, the figure rose by 587 to 2,458, bringing occupancy to 63% in the capital, with room to increase capacity, they said.

In the section of the population between 18 and 29 years of age, “there is no upward curve of hospitalizations, although in the 30 to 39 age group there is, slightly,” said Clark.

Next week the vaccination of young people between 18 and 29 years of age will begin, although the details are not yet known. But the authorities are confident that this wave will be better controlled the more people are vaccinated.

In fact, 100% of people over 60 years of age have already had access to the full vaccination schedule, and the same is expected to happen on July 27 for people between 50 and 59 years of age.

Meanwhile, the same will happen on September 7 for the population between 40 and 49 years of age; and on September 14 for those between 40 and 49 years of age. Those between 30 and 39 years of age will also have access to both doses on September 14.

Finally, people between 18 and 29 years of age are expected to be fully vaccinated by October 12.

So far, 7.65 million doses of vaccines have been applied in the city.