MEXICO CITY, March 13 (Reuters) – Mexico could consider measures at its northern border to slow coronavirus’ spread into its relatively unaffected territory, health officials said on Friday, with an eye to containing a U.S. outbreak that has infected more than 1,800 people.
Mexico has so far confirmed 16 cases of coronavirus with no deaths, a fraction of more than 1,800 cases in the United States, where 41 people have died.
Mexico’s deputy health minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said contagion from the United States was a threat.
“Mexico wouldn’t bring the virus to the United States, rather the United States would bring it here,” he said at a news conference “The possible flow of coronavirus would come from the north to the south.”
“If it were technically necessary, we would consider mechanisms of restriction or stronger surveillance,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, says coronavirus bolsters his argument for blocking northbound border crossings with a U.S.-Mexico wall.
Florida’s CAIR threatens lawsuit against DeSantis after he labels group a ‘foreign terrorist’ organization
Top US political figures lend legitimacy to Qatari forum allied with array of anti-American groups
3 people arrested after 7 Providence College students overdose at off-campus party
Trump says New York Times questioning his stamina could be ‘treasonous’
Trump mocks Ilhan Omar’s ‘turban’ in latest anti-Somali tirade
Trump compares real wages under his admin versus Biden’s during speech calling out Dem affordability ‘hoax’
Trump gives update on wounded National Guard member 2 weeks after DC ambush shooting: ‘He got up from bed’
American skydivers reclaim world record from Libya with massive flag jump on Pearl Harbor Day
Trump says Rep. Crockett’s Senate run ‘a gift to Republicans’: ‘Can’t imagine she wins’
$900B defense bill advances to House-wide vote as conservative mutiny threat looms
Trump rips Biden and Democrats over affordability in Pennsylvania: ‘Like Bonnie and Clyde preaching public safety’
New report reveals federal spending per person has ballooned by nearly 10,000% since 1916
Twin Blue-State Punks Meet SWAT Justice After Threatening Medieval Torture, Then Murder of DHS Asst. Dir. Tricia McLaughlin
Plane crash-lands on top of Toyota on Florida freeway following engine trouble
McDonald’s Pulls Unsettling Christmas Commercial After it Sparks Massive Backlash
Trump has long called for a wall on the Mexican border as a way to block migrants from entering the United States, and wrote on Twitter that the barrier is now needed “more than ever” as coronavirus spreads.
“To this point, and because we have had a very strong border policy, we have had 40 deaths related to CoronaVirus. If we had weak or open borders, that number would be many times higher!” Trump tweeted on Friday.
Unlike several other Latin American countries, Mexico has yet to take measures such as closing schools or banning entry to people coming from places with high numbers of coronavirus cases.
However, the private Tecnologico de Monterrey university said on Thursday it would suspend academic and classes from next week until further notice, while Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM) said it would tighten preventative measures to prevent the spread of the virus.
Story cited here.
