Third wave of COVID in Mexico, what you need to know

June
24, 2021

4 min read

Mexican health authorities reported a rebound in estimated COVID-19 cases of 9 percent. The upward trend in infections began in tourist states such as Baja California Sur, Yucatán and Quintana Roo. However, it has now spread to locations such as Sonora, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, and Tabasco.

In a press conference this Tuesday, June 22, the Undersecretary for Health Promotion and Prevention of Mexico, Hugo López-Gatell commented that “it could be that heading to Saturday, which closes the week, we have an increase of about 15 to 18 points percentage, this could represent a change in the trend of the epidemic or it could not ”.

Likewise, it requested and recommended that citizens continue to comply with individual and group prevention measures, thus avoiding high-traffic meetings in public spaces.

In social networks, the epidemiologist, Alejandro Macias, explained that the country seemed to start a third wave of COVID due to the rebound in cases in the entities mentioned at the beginning and commented that this could occur in regional foci and in the young population.

If a third wave of COVID starts in Mexico, it will be mainly from regional foci and in the younger population since the elderly have been vaccinated; I hope it will also be less lethal and less demanding for hospitals. With this virus we will have to coexist. https://t.co/2Ft6LdAHRn

– Alejandro Macias (@doctormacias) June 21, 2021

In an interview for Radio Fórmula on June 24, Macias, affirmed that there will be a third wave since not all entities have attacked the virus with the same intensity.

On the other hand, according to El País , some researchers affirm that a third wave began in the aforementioned states. While others comment that it is too early to talk about it, at least at the national level.

Mauricio Rodríguez Álvarez, spokesman for the University Commission for the Attention of the Coronavirus Emergency of the UNAM, says that entities such as Yucatán, Quintana Roo and Baja California Sur are already experiencing a third wave, however, it still remains to say that the same is at the national level.

On the other hand, Rodríguez Ávalerez explains that the increase in the different localities may be due to different causes, such as tourism in tourist states or the reactivation of activities in others.

What happens in Mexico City?

At a press conference on June 22 , Claudia Sheinbaum, head of Government of Mexico City, commented that if a third wave were to appear, we would find ourselves in a different situation, since the most vulnerable population of older adults is already vaccinated and the vaccination program is moving forward.

For Sheinbaum, there would not be a third wave “of the magnitude of what we had previously.” According to the official, almost 50% of the population of Mexico City has a dose of the vaccine.