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.
Bill Allowing Victims to Sue Judges, Others Who Let Illegals Run Wild Is Quietly Advancing in Congress
Democratic Senator Accused of Violating Federal Law with Anti-White X Post
Dem candidate’s bizarre anti-MAGA tirade ends with ‘we have guns too’
UK warns Iran is targeting ‘military sites’ as US and allies recognize growing threat of IRGC ‘hybrid activities’
Coast Guard firefight puts US, Mexico at odds despite coordinated border operations
Judge extends ban on tree removals at East Potomac Golf Links for two weeks
Young South Dakota deputy dies three days after being shot during a confrontation at a home
Lawyers for Charlie Kirk’s accused assassin Tyler Robinson want cameras banned after report on taxpayer burden
Watch: Katie Zacharia Begins Her First White House Press Briefing with a Message to Trump
GOP cuts bait on vulnerable Iowa representative one week after Johnson’s visit
Trump Speaks Out on Ilhan Omar Raid: ‘I Have Nothing to Do with It’
Dem making Senate comeback bid says he wouldn’t support a Trump impeachment push
Democrats’ fury over Ilhan Omar raid draws stinging GOP reminder about raid from the past: ‘Set the precedent’
Breaking: Kimberly Guilfoyle ‘Forever Grateful’ to Trump as She Resigns
Pope Leo XIV admitted to Gemelli Hospital for surgery to remove nodule from lung
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.
