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Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/fears-grow-as-coronavirus-bears-down-on-mexico-city-1.4930223
Fears grow as coronavirus bears down on Mexico City
Maria Verza
The Associated Press
Staff
Published Thursday, May 7, 2020 9:56PM EDT
MEXICO CITY -- A hand-washing station and bright yellow signs warning of an area of "high infection" now greet the steady stream of hearses at the entrance to the San Nicolas Tolentino cemetery in a working-class neighbourhood of this sprawling metropolis.
Funeral parlours and crematoriums in Iztapalapa, a borough of 2 million people, are working day and night to manage the surging number of dead in the capital's hardest-hit corner. On Thursday, Mexico saw its largest one-day increase yet in confirmed cases, with almost 2,000 new infections nationwide, representing a 7.2 per cent increase compared to Wednesday. Deaths neared the 3,000 mark.
Concern is growing that mixed messages about the seriousness of the pandemic from Mexico's president and lax enforcement of social distancing are manifesting in what could be a frightening preview as infections begin to peak in Mexico City and its suburbs -- where some 20 million people live in close quarters, jamming subways and buses, shopping in crowded markets and clustering around street food stalls.
On a recent morning, Rafael Hernandez, who has sold tacos at the cemetery's entrance for 40 years, said an average day before the pandemic might bring five or six hearses past his stand. "Today there have been 10 in an hour," he said.
Rafael Herrera said in his 25 years working in the crematorium next door he's never seen anything like it. They've had to add another shift, and funeral parlours are calling for crematoriums like his to run their ovens run 24 hours a day as Mexico City recommends and pays for the cremations of coronavirus victims.
"We can't keep up," Herrera said. "We're working from 6 in the morning to midnight."...
Fears grow as coronavirus bears down on Mexico City
Maria Verza
The Associated Press
Staff
Published Thursday, May 7, 2020 9:56PM EDT
MEXICO CITY -- A hand-washing station and bright yellow signs warning of an area of "high infection" now greet the steady stream of hearses at the entrance to the San Nicolas Tolentino cemetery in a working-class neighbourhood of this sprawling metropolis.
Funeral parlours and crematoriums in Iztapalapa, a borough of 2 million people, are working day and night to manage the surging number of dead in the capital's hardest-hit corner. On Thursday, Mexico saw its largest one-day increase yet in confirmed cases, with almost 2,000 new infections nationwide, representing a 7.2 per cent increase compared to Wednesday. Deaths neared the 3,000 mark.
Concern is growing that mixed messages about the seriousness of the pandemic from Mexico's president and lax enforcement of social distancing are manifesting in what could be a frightening preview as infections begin to peak in Mexico City and its suburbs -- where some 20 million people live in close quarters, jamming subways and buses, shopping in crowded markets and clustering around street food stalls.
On a recent morning, Rafael Hernandez, who has sold tacos at the cemetery's entrance for 40 years, said an average day before the pandemic might bring five or six hearses past his stand. "Today there have been 10 in an hour," he said.
Rafael Herrera said in his 25 years working in the crematorium next door he's never seen anything like it. They've had to add another shift, and funeral parlours are calling for crematoriums like his to run their ovens run 24 hours a day as Mexico City recommends and pays for the cremations of coronavirus victims.
"We can't keep up," Herrera said. "We're working from 6 in the morning to midnight."...