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Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Some Disturbing Developments With COVID-19 Crisis In Baja California And One Of Them Has "TRUMP" Written All Over It

Sorry I'm late, just backlogged with projects & cooking around here. Plus, my wash machine broke.  Unsure right now if we will chance a repairman - since we don't know whether or not he'll be wearing a mask, or to just buy a new one. I loved this last washer, it was a Whirlpool made down here but we think the irregularity of the electricity (not our wiring but the outside lines) took a toll on it.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Yesterday early afternoon we received the latest COVID-19 numbers which break down the Municipalities:

 ~ From Zeta:

Clase Trabajadora La mas Contagiado en BC, Ya Van Mil 345 Infectados
Por, Uriel Saucedo

"On the first day of the stage that is forecast to be the most critical for Baja California in COVID-19 infections, 37 new positive patients were registered, totaling 1,345 confirmed cases, of which, the working class between 25 and 54 years old , concentrates 71 percent of infected patients, reported the head of the State Health Secretariat (SSE) in Baja California, Alonso Pérez Rico.


“In relation to confirmed cases by age group, they are still the youngest groups, the working population is the most punished group. From 40 to 44 years old, we have 181 confirmed cases, of which 27 are hospitalized; the next item that follows are people from 35 to 39 years old with 177 cases, and it is the first time that this age group has increased in number of cases, ”Pérez Rico said during the videoconference.


Of those confirmed, 737 cases accumulate in Tijuana, in Mexicali 508, Ensenada has 30, Tecate 51, Rosarito 15 and San Quintín continues with four. In deaths, Tijuana continues to lead with 123, followed by Mexicali with 40; Ensenada and Tecate have five each municipality. Playas de Rosarito remains in three and San Quintín with one.


To date, 3,223 tests have been performed throughout the state, of which 1,345 have tested positive, 1,387 have been ruled out as negative, and 491 are pending results. 


The head of the SSE reported that the case of suspects on April 10 when nearly 170 people with symptoms of COVID were added has not been repeated, since an average of 100 people suspected of contagion are treated daily.


Regarding the 491 cases studied in the state that remain as suspects, the SSE has 88 patients, the IMSS has 389, the ISSSTE maintains two, the ISSSTECALI increased to three, and the private hospitals have nine pending.


Deaths continue in people over 65 years with 51 people dead, followed by people from 45 to 49 years with 26 victims. 61 percent of deaths have been in men and 39 percent in women. On average, there are 3.5 deaths every day from COVID-19.

During the video conference, Pérez Rico discussed the cases of 153 recovered patients, 83 men and 70 women. He explained that of the total, 86 correspond to Tijuana, 58 to Mexicali, 8 to Tecate and one in Ensenada.


SSE occupancy in converted hospitals is 67 percent with 104 beds and 45 ventilators available; the IMSS for its part, is at 72.3 percent of its capacity with 168 beds and 22 free fans for use throughout the state. 

 Regarding supporting institutions, ISSSTE is at 56.2 percent of its capacity with 60 available beds and ISSSTECALI at 74.6 percent of occupancy with 41 beds.


Likewise, he mentioned that the Tijuana General Hospital received four fans who are already assembling for the disposal of patients who require it.


In all of Mexico 67 thousand 635 people are studied, being 14 thousand 677 cases confirmed by COVID-19, of which four thousand 972 are confirmed active; 7 thousand 612 suspects and 45 thousand 346 tests that have given negative. Deaths already number 1,351.


COVID IN FIGURES (APRIL 27)
CASES1345
Tijuana737
Mexicali508
Cove (Ensenada)30
Tecate51
Rosaritofifteen
San Quintín / Vicente Guerrero4

DEATHS177
Tijuana123
Mexicali40
Cove (Ensenada)5
Tecate5
Rosarito3
San Quintín / Vicente Guerreroone "



~~~~~ 

Some Not So Good News:

 ~ From Zeta:

El 54 Por Ciento de Los Bajacalifornianos No Acata el "Quedate en Casa" 
 Por, Carlos Alvarez 

54 percent of Baja Californians do not abide by the "Stay at Home"


 "Ricardo Cortés Alcalá, head of the General Directorate of Health Promotion of the Federal Government, announced this Sunday, April 26, that Zacatecas and Hidalgo, with 29 and 16 percent, respectively, are the entities where it has decreased the least mobility during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-1) coronavirus, which fell 46 percent in Baja California. 


On the contrary, Yucatan is the state with the highest decrease in mobility, with 66 percent, followed by Quintana Roo (-64%), Jalisco (-62%), Nayarit (-61%) and Sonora (- 58%), according to geolocation data collected by the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT), from Google, Facebook and Twitter platforms.


The authorities of the Ministry of Health (SSa) of the Federal Government made a call to the population of the states that have not been able to reduce their mobility by at least 50 percent, to accept the call to stay at home in order to reduce the number of covid-19 cases.


Among these are: Chihuahua (-48%), Sonora (-48%), Tamaulipas (-48%), Veracruz (-48%), Baja California (-46%), Guerrero (-46%), Querétaro ( 46%); State of Mexico (-45%), Morelos (-42%), Tlaxcala (-38%), Durango (-35%), Tabasco (-35%), Hidalgo (-29%) and Zacatecas (-16%) .


For his part, Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez, undersecretary of Prevention and Promotion of Federal Health, urged not to use the call to limit mobility, as a justification for violating human rights, since “In Mexico half of the population lives day by day and this represents a legitimate motivation to attend (or participate in) the public space, "he said.


"The [strategy of] intervention [in Mexico] is aimed at the structural elements that make people move: work, go to school or take children to school, and recreational activities," said the federal official during the daily follow-up conference regarding the coronavirus pandemic in Mexico."


~~~~~

 ~ From Zeta:

Que paso AMLO ?

AMLO Asegura:" Se ha Podido Domar la Epidemia (COVID)"; Datos Oficiales Dicen La Contrario
Por, Eduardo Andrade Uribe



"Hours after the President of the Republic Andrés Manuel López Obrador declared yesterday that in Mexico "the epidemic has been tamed" by COVID-19, the General Director of Epidemiology, José Luis Alomía, maintained at a press conference that the suspected cases and confirmed by contagion of the respiratory disease still show "an upward trend".


The president had said that, unlike other places where "unfortunately" the disease has exploded, in this country its incidence "has been horizontal and this has allowed us to prepare very well, to have everything that is required of medical equipment " He even assured that there is "availability of up to 70% of intensive care beds, with ventilators."


As part of his "Sunday message", issued from the National Palace, AMLO thanked the population "because the measures are being followed to the letter and this has helped us a lot", because according to what he said "we do not have an overflow, we are not saturating hospitals ”.


At the press conference that the Ministry of Health offered yesterday, Sunday, April 26, Alomía Zegarra added that in a period of 24 hours, 835 new infection tables had been presented. He acknowledged that in the last three days there had been a "downward trend", in any case, it must be remembered that this was data corresponding to the weekend, which could affect "the level of demand for medical care."


He stressed that "we are still in days and weeks where we expect the curve (epidemic) to continue upward," which contradicted the president.


In terms of hospital occupancy, on Friday the 24th it emerged that in Mexico City the Hospital Espanol and 6 health sector centers were saturated. In the case of the private clinical unit, a sign was in fact placed in its facilities indicating that the capacity at that location, to serve patients with COVID-19, had been exceeded.


Precisely, the Hospital Espanol maintains information on its website that "for the moment" does not have available beds to serve patients with COVID-19. " 


Besides, doctors from the Regional General Hospital ,Dr. Carlso Mac Gregor Sánchez Navarro (IMSS) went into unemployment this Monday due to lack of personnel, equipment and supplies to avoid protection to attend to coronavirus cases, which calls into question another AMLO statement issued yesterday and relative the country is properly prepared with specialists to care for people with this condition.


As stated by Alomía Zegarra, regarding general hospital beds, "not intensive care", there is still 80% availability. The general director of Epidemiology expressed that this percentage is nationwide; hence, he specified that Baja California and Mexico City "are practically approaching or are already in the middle of their occupation", with 53 and 51 percent of units available respectively.


Regarding beds with ventilators, he stated that in this state and in CDMX there is an availability of 69 and 72 percent, ranking as the entities with the highest occupancy.


However, the Secretary of Health in Baja California, Alonso Pérez Rico, reported on Monday that in the hospitals of the State Health Secretariat that operate in the “reconverted” modality, the occupation is 67%, with 104 beds and 45 ventilators available; while those of the Mexican Social Security Institute are 72.3% occupied and have "168 beds and 22 free ventilators" at the state level. In the case of support institutions, the Institute of Security and Social Services of State Workers (ISSSTE) is at 56.2% of its capacity, with 60 available beds and the ISSSTECALI, at 74.6 with 41 beds.


Thus, as for the average that the federal government handled in the case of BC, the numbers issued locally are reversed, with the global percentage (for all the institutions involved in this entity) being 67.525 per cent of occupation.


Pérez Rico, stated that "Our whole country is being painted in a more intense color, which is as the cases increase." Since yesterday, he warned that as of today BC would enter a "critical stage" due to the risk of contagion, a comment that this April 27 endorsed: "two very difficult weeks are coming for Baja California."


According to the latest official reports, in Mexico there are 4,972 cases of contagion in the "active" modality and in total 14,677 infectious cases have been reported. Meanwhile, Baja California has 1,345 accumulated cases, with 37 registered in the last 24 hours, making it the third place for infections nationwide.


Finally, in what corresponds to deaths from coronavirus, the figure in this entity is 177, which places it in second place, below Mexico City."

~~~~~ 

This one will make you sick, it did me:


~ From Zeta:

Bonilla Reculo: Reabre Empresas No Escenciales 

 

"Safran negotiated reopening with the Governor and, under pressure from the United States government, restarted operations. Work stoppages and complaints of the operation of companies continue; achieve suspension of activities in Parker, Hyundai and Hisense"

["...the business leader explained that both the Baja California and the Mexican governments are receiving pressure from the United States consular body and from President Donald Trump himself to
re start certain operations that are essential to the American Union."]

 *****

"Nine days were enough for Governor Jaime Bonilla Valdez to change his strategy, and inexplicably stopped reporting how many companies are suspended for continuing to operate despite the fact that their activity is not essential in the face of the novel coronavirus pandemic.


Little remains of the belligerent attitude shown by the Governor on April 10, declaring that the Smiths Medical plant had been closed because it was not essential for Baja Californians despite the fact that it manufactures medical supplies.


Far away was the speech that because of his commitment to the people he would not give in to the "great pressure" he had when Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard called him to open that company, which finally agreed to sell part of its production and help the state government to acquire ventilators to restart its operation.

The change was not only reflected in the words of Bonilla Valdez, who in recent days has struggled to minimize the respiratory illness caused by SARS CoV2, but in the number of companies that suspended operations.

 
Official data indicates that from April 18 (the last day that the Secretary of Labor, Sergio Moctezuma Martínez López appeared in the president's morning message) to Tuesday the 21st, the operation of six companies in BC were suspended, when the daily average had been 54 companies. The highest number was achieved on April 12, with 261.

At press time, in the global cumulative, the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) suspended operations of 632 companies since April 7, bringing the total of 78,611 workers sent home.
The turnaround in Baja California occurs when the entire country is already in Phase 3 of the COVID-19 epidemic and the State ranks third in infections, with 852 confirmed cases, and second in deaths, with 96.


While the health authority at the federal level declares that in this Phase 3 the virus spreads rapidly, so there is an urgent need to suspend massive activities, including non-essential companies, in Baja California the governor is silent on the reopening of companies such as Safran , whose production is mainly focused on the aerospace sector, where a COVID-19 case had been confirmed at its Parque Pacífico plant in Tijuana.


On April 14, after a group of workers stopped activities, the head of the STPS went to the factory and, after referring to the agreement of the Federal Ministry of Health, asked managers to send staff to their homes along with enjoying their full salaries until April 30.


In its edition from April 17 to 23, ZETA reported that in said inspection, directors of that company had shown a letter from Foreign Minister Ebrard addressed to the president of Safran, according to Martínez López, who specified that the ventilators that the company would produce would not be produced in Baja California, where he is dedicated to the manufacture of aerospace equipment.


The closure determined by the state STPS was accepted by the company on April 14, however, on Monday, 20, workers reported that they had been contacted to restart operations the following day:


"Hello team, good morning. A few moments ago, Dave Harris and Greta Parra, through a conference, just informed us that we received authorization from the BC Government to restart operations tomorrow Tuesday 4/21/20 at our normal hours ”, with the exception of the staff considered as a vulnerable group and those people who would not be required, since the "start would be gradual".


Regarding this, Carlos Higuera, president of Tijuana's Economic and Industrial Development (Deitac), commented that Safran and Honeywell "sat down with the governor to talk and reach an agreement", since the former "has contracts with the United States Military, then, this is where the pressure comes from to open these operations. ”


The business leader explained that both the Baja California and the Mexican governments are receiving pressure from the United States consular body and from President Donald Trump himself to
restart certain operations that are essential to the American Union.


"We know that the pressure from the United States is far above a President of Mexico and much more than a governor, really the pressure exerted by companies of this type, especially those related to the US Military, are going to have all the media, of all kinds, politicians, diplomats, etc., to listen to and assert their rights, and this is no exception, "said Higuera.

MORE UNEMPLOYMENT AND WORKERS 'COMPLAINTS


With the revelation of more suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus of workers in the manufacturing sector, the activity stoppages have even been extended to those plants with essential activity, such as Surgical Specialties , in the medical sector.

Others, such as Parker Baja Servicios, SA de CV (mechanical sector) faced two stoppages this week until the company gave in to the workers' demand to suspend operations. In this, a group of employees reported that in the two plants in Mesa de Otay in Tijuana, the healthy distance was not respected, there is also no antibacterial gel and they received a reusable fabric mouthpiece that must be washed daily.


On Tuesday, April 21, after lunchtime was up at the Hisense plant in Rosarito, a group of people refused to return to their respective production lines. Given this, the managers decided to suspend operations throughout the plant for two weeks, during which time the company will pay full wages.


According to testimonies collected by ZETA , the electronic sector company continued to operate despite the fact that its activities were not essential; however, all the employees interviewed agreed that they took their temperature at the beginning and at the end of their working day, they were provided with mouth covers and gloves, and they were placed taking care of the healthy distance.


The same day, Hyundai suspended the operation of all its plants in the State, after a group of workers stopped work at the plant located near La Presa, demanding that activities be suspended.
Jesús Javier Medina Duarte, general secretary of the Mexico Moderno Union, said the workers' demonstration accelerated a cessation of activities program that had been established between the union and the company, which had previously obtained a permit from the state government to continue working , documenting that he had an urgent order for refrigerated trailer boxes (for transporting medicine and food).


He said that on Monday it was learned that a worker at Hyundai plant 1 died as a result of COVID-19 and from there "we all panicked ". That would explain why the workers decided to stop work and not wait for their plant to suspend operations according to what was agreed, said the representative of the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants.


Another complaint referred to ZETA that in the Alaris BD plant , the Human Resources area had not granted paid rest days to a person who had temperature, cough, muscle pain and headache.
In this regard, Juan Pablo Solís, general manager of the company, assured in an interview with this Weekly that since the epidemic began, the plant takes the temperature on all shifts to everyone who enters the company, mouth covers are used and Filters were implanted so that whoever was unwell could go to the medical service.


The executive acknowledged that the company has a couple of confirmed cases of COVID-19 of workers working in administrative areas. They are already recovering at home.


Since the agreement issued by the federal Health Secretariat on March 31, just over 400 people who are considered to be in the vulnerable group have been sent home with full wages and more transportation routes have been implemented so that workers have a healthy distance.


Medina Duarte stressed that the operation of the Tijuana plant is essential, since the intravenous sets that are used by about 85% of hospitalized people are manufactured there. These products go to institutions of the Health Sector in Mexico and are also exported.

NOT ALL COMPANIES PAY FULL WAGES


Another person, who works at Grupo NAPS, reported that the maquila where he works, which makes cables for oil platforms, informed them that he would not pay full wages to his collaborators to suspend operations, despite the fact that the authority had said it was his obligation.


“They told us that if they were to give us time they would pay us only 60% of the salary, that an agreement was being made and that we should sign it”, but given the refusal of some, “we do not know what will happen because the in charge of human resources ”, he added.


In addition, they warned that the company asked to sign a sheet in which they allegedly stated that they were aware of the situation and that it would serve the company to support the endorsement of the workers, without actually accepting it and specifying the conditions of said agreement, pointed out the discontents.


Heriberto Galindo, president of the Industry Human Resources Association in Tijuana, confirmed that not all workers are being paid full wages.


In the vast majority of companies, staff are working directly and were sent home "with their 100% salary," but in those who do home office there is great variation, "there are many who are paying 100% , others who reached an agreement to work partially and make partial payments. ”


Carlos Higuera, from Deitac, indicated that what actually happened is that large companies paid 100% R, as many larger companies reached an agreement close to 100%, and the smaller ones, which are not directly maquiladores, negotiated some type of percentage, which on average ranges around 50%.


For his part, Galindo pointed out that around 90 thousand people from the manufacturing sector are at home, with which 130 thousand companies in BC have suspended operations.


After referring to the fact that the International Monetary Fund estimated that 2.9 million jobs will be lost in Mexico, he considered it necessary for workers, government and companies to unite to reactivate the economy and “not lose our sources of employment, because if that happens, it will not There will be money available to our government to replace wages, and this will lead to more insecurity in our regions, "he warned.

ALMOST 100 BUSINESS REQUESTS TO BE ESSENTIAL


On April 17, Index and state government officials agreed to establish an intersecretary group to analyze and, where appropriate, authorize requests from companies that require continued operations, arguing essential activity.


Carlos Higuera, president of one of the organizations that participates with the STPS, SEST, Cofepris and SSa, commented that until Thursday, April 23, one hundred companies had made the request. Of these, 10% refer to companies whose activity was suspended and require a process of maintenance and / or shipment of raw materials, with a minimum of personnel.

All the documents were sent to the State Government and it is expected that until next week there will be a response to the requests. The Commissioner of the Federal Commission against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris), David Gutiérrez Inzunza, agreed on this, confirming that so far no company is guaranteed to operate.


The authority's decision will be based on three criteria: that the company is essential, in accordance with its articles of incorporation, its contracts and the veracity of what is being reported "because lately all are essential," Gutiérrez stressed, in addition to complying with adequate prevention or sanitation measures.


"Another requirement is that they have a reintegration plan for their work teams, that is, that the restart be gradual," Higuera additionally noted."


 More reports within original link.

~~~~~ 

I feel kind of sick right now.  I hate Donald Trump. Well, up in the states I think one of our most fave reporters is Juan Gonzalez. If you haven't already, take a look at what he has to say where the USA is headed, and BTW, all the reports are so terrific. I'm sorry Mexico, I know apologies are never enough.

~ From Democracy Now ! 

Juan Gonzalez: "Make No Mistake : This Country Is Eding Closer to Neo-Fascist Authoritarianism"


~~~~~

Back with the drug war stats later.

Some Disturbing Developments With COVID-19 Crisis In Baja California And One Of Them Has "TRUMP" Written All Over It

Sorry I'm late, just backlogged with projects & cooking around here. Plus, my wash machine broke.  Unsure right now if we will chance a repairman - since we don't know whether or not he'll be wearing a mask, or to just buy a new one. I loved this last washer, it was a Whirlpool made down here but we think the irregularity of the electricity (not our wiring but the outside lines) took a toll on it.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Yesterday early afternoon we received the latest COVID-19 numbers which break down the Municipalities:

 ~ From Zeta:

Clase Trabajadora La mas Contagiado en BC, Ya Van Mil 345 Infectados
Por, Uriel Saucedo

"On the first day of the stage that is forecast to be the most critical for Baja California in COVID-19 infections, 37 new positive patients were registered, totaling 1,345 confirmed cases, of which, the working class between 25 and 54 years old , concentrates 71 percent of infected patients, reported the head of the State Health Secretariat (SSE) in Baja California, Alonso Pérez Rico.


“In relation to confirmed cases by age group, they are still the youngest groups, the working population is the most punished group. From 40 to 44 years old, we have 181 confirmed cases, of which 27 are hospitalized; the next item that follows are people from 35 to 39 years old with 177 cases, and it is the first time that this age group has increased in number of cases, ”Pérez Rico said during the videoconference.


Of those confirmed, 737 cases accumulate in Tijuana, in Mexicali 508, Ensenada has 30, Tecate 51, Rosarito 15 and San Quintín continues with four. In deaths, Tijuana continues to lead with 123, followed by Mexicali with 40; Ensenada and Tecate have five each municipality. Playas de Rosarito remains in three and San Quintín with one.


To date, 3,223 tests have been performed throughout the state, of which 1,345 have tested positive, 1,387 have been ruled out as negative, and 491 are pending results. 


The head of the SSE reported that the case of suspects on April 10 when nearly 170 people with symptoms of COVID were added has not been repeated, since an average of 100 people suspected of contagion are treated daily.


Regarding the 491 cases studied in the state that remain as suspects, the SSE has 88 patients, the IMSS has 389, the ISSSTE maintains two, the ISSSTECALI increased to three, and the private hospitals have nine pending.


Deaths continue in people over 65 years with 51 people dead, followed by people from 45 to 49 years with 26 victims. 61 percent of deaths have been in men and 39 percent in women. On average, there are 3.5 deaths every day from COVID-19.

During the video conference, Pérez Rico discussed the cases of 153 recovered patients, 83 men and 70 women. He explained that of the total, 86 correspond to Tijuana, 58 to Mexicali, 8 to Tecate and one in Ensenada.


SSE occupancy in converted hospitals is 67 percent with 104 beds and 45 ventilators available; the IMSS for its part, is at 72.3 percent of its capacity with 168 beds and 22 free fans for use throughout the state. 

 Regarding supporting institutions, ISSSTE is at 56.2 percent of its capacity with 60 available beds and ISSSTECALI at 74.6 percent of occupancy with 41 beds.


Likewise, he mentioned that the Tijuana General Hospital received four fans who are already assembling for the disposal of patients who require it.


In all of Mexico 67 thousand 635 people are studied, being 14 thousand 677 cases confirmed by COVID-19, of which four thousand 972 are confirmed active; 7 thousand 612 suspects and 45 thousand 346 tests that have given negative. Deaths already number 1,351.


COVID IN FIGURES (APRIL 27)
CASES 1345
Tijuana 737
Mexicali 508
Cove (Ensenada) 30
Tecate 51
Rosarito fifteen
San Quintín / Vicente Guerrero 4

DEATHS 177
Tijuana 123
Mexicali 40
Cove (Ensenada) 5
Tecate 5
Rosarito 3
San Quintín / Vicente Guerrero one "



~~~~~ 

Some Not So Good News:

 ~ From Zeta:

El 54 Por Ciento de Los Bajacalifornianos No Acata el "Quedate en Casa" 
 Por, Carlos Alvarez 

54 percent of Baja Californians do not abide by the "Stay at Home"


 "Ricardo Cortés Alcalá, head of the General Directorate of Health Promotion of the Federal Government, announced this Sunday, April 26, that Zacatecas and Hidalgo, with 29 and 16 percent, respectively, are the entities where it has decreased the least mobility during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-1) coronavirus, which fell 46 percent in Baja California. 


On the contrary, Yucatan is the state with the highest decrease in mobility, with 66 percent, followed by Quintana Roo (-64%), Jalisco (-62%), Nayarit (-61%) and Sonora (- 58%), according to geolocation data collected by the National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT), from Google, Facebook and Twitter platforms.


The authorities of the Ministry of Health (SSa) of the Federal Government made a call to the population of the states that have not been able to reduce their mobility by at least 50 percent, to accept the call to stay at home in order to reduce the number of covid-19 cases.


Among these are: Chihuahua (-48%), Sonora (-48%), Tamaulipas (-48%), Veracruz (-48%), Baja California (-46%), Guerrero (-46%), Querétaro ( 46%); State of Mexico (-45%), Morelos (-42%), Tlaxcala (-38%), Durango (-35%), Tabasco (-35%), Hidalgo (-29%) and Zacatecas (-16%) .


For his part, Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez, undersecretary of Prevention and Promotion of Federal Health, urged not to use the call to limit mobility, as a justification for violating human rights, since “In Mexico half of the population lives day by day and this represents a legitimate motivation to attend (or participate in) the public space, "he said.


"The [strategy of] intervention [in Mexico] is aimed at the structural elements that make people move: work, go to school or take children to school, and recreational activities," said the federal official during the daily follow-up conference regarding the coronavirus pandemic in Mexico."


~~~~~

 ~ From Zeta:

Que paso AMLO ?

AMLO Asegura:" Se ha Podido Domar la Epidemia (COVID)"; Datos Oficiales Dicen La Contrario
Por, Eduardo Andrade Uribe



"Hours after the President of the Republic Andrés Manuel López Obrador declared yesterday that in Mexico "the epidemic has been tamed" by COVID-19, the General Director of Epidemiology, José Luis Alomía, maintained at a press conference that the suspected cases and confirmed by contagion of the respiratory disease still show "an upward trend".


The president had said that, unlike other places where "unfortunately" the disease has exploded, in this country its incidence "has been horizontal and this has allowed us to prepare very well, to have everything that is required of medical equipment " He even assured that there is "availability of up to 70% of intensive care beds, with ventilators."


As part of his "Sunday message", issued from the National Palace, AMLO thanked the population "because the measures are being followed to the letter and this has helped us a lot", because according to what he said "we do not have an overflow, we are not saturating hospitals ”.


At the press conference that the Ministry of Health offered yesterday, Sunday, April 26, Alomía Zegarra added that in a period of 24 hours, 835 new infection tables had been presented. He acknowledged that in the last three days there had been a "downward trend", in any case, it must be remembered that this was data corresponding to the weekend, which could affect "the level of demand for medical care."


He stressed that "we are still in days and weeks where we expect the curve (epidemic) to continue upward," which contradicted the president.


In terms of hospital occupancy, on Friday the 24th it emerged that in Mexico City the Hospital Espanol and 6 health sector centers were saturated. In the case of the private clinical unit, a sign was in fact placed in its facilities indicating that the capacity at that location, to serve patients with COVID-19, had been exceeded.


Precisely, the Hospital Espanol maintains information on its website that "for the moment" does not have available beds to serve patients with COVID-19. " 


Besides, doctors from the Regional General Hospital ,Dr. Carlso Mac Gregor Sánchez Navarro (IMSS) went into unemployment this Monday due to lack of personnel, equipment and supplies to avoid protection to attend to coronavirus cases, which calls into question another AMLO statement issued yesterday and relative the country is properly prepared with specialists to care for people with this condition.


As stated by Alomía Zegarra, regarding general hospital beds, "not intensive care", there is still 80% availability. The general director of Epidemiology expressed that this percentage is nationwide; hence, he specified that Baja California and Mexico City "are practically approaching or are already in the middle of their occupation", with 53 and 51 percent of units available respectively.


Regarding beds with ventilators, he stated that in this state and in CDMX there is an availability of 69 and 72 percent, ranking as the entities with the highest occupancy.


However, the Secretary of Health in Baja California, Alonso Pérez Rico, reported on Monday that in the hospitals of the State Health Secretariat that operate in the “reconverted” modality, the occupation is 67%, with 104 beds and 45 ventilators available; while those of the Mexican Social Security Institute are 72.3% occupied and have "168 beds and 22 free ventilators" at the state level. In the case of support institutions, the Institute of Security and Social Services of State Workers (ISSSTE) is at 56.2% of its capacity, with 60 available beds and the ISSSTECALI, at 74.6 with 41 beds.


Thus, as for the average that the federal government handled in the case of BC, the numbers issued locally are reversed, with the global percentage (for all the institutions involved in this entity) being 67.525 per cent of occupation.


Pérez Rico, stated that "Our whole country is being painted in a more intense color, which is as the cases increase." Since yesterday, he warned that as of today BC would enter a "critical stage" due to the risk of contagion, a comment that this April 27 endorsed: "two very difficult weeks are coming for Baja California."


According to the latest official reports, in Mexico there are 4,972 cases of contagion in the "active" modality and in total 14,677 infectious cases have been reported. Meanwhile, Baja California has 1,345 accumulated cases, with 37 registered in the last 24 hours, making it the third place for infections nationwide.


Finally, in what corresponds to deaths from coronavirus, the figure in this entity is 177, which places it in second place, below Mexico City."

~~~~~ 

This one will make you sick, it did me:


~ From Zeta:

Bonilla Reculo: Reabre Empresas No Escenciales 

 

"Safran negotiated reopening with the Governor and, under pressure from the United States government, restarted operations. Work stoppages and complaints of the operation of companies continue; achieve suspension of activities in Parker, Hyundai and Hisense"

["...the business leader explained that both the Baja California and the Mexican governments are receiving pressure from the United States consular body and from President Donald Trump himself to
re start certain operations that are essential to the American Union."]

 *****

"Nine days were enough for Governor Jaime Bonilla Valdez to change his strategy, and inexplicably stopped reporting how many companies are suspended for continuing to operate despite the fact that their activity is not essential in the face of the novel coronavirus pandemic.


Little remains of the belligerent attitude shown by the Governor on April 10, declaring that the Smiths Medical plant had been closed because it was not essential for Baja Californians despite the fact that it manufactures medical supplies.


Far away was the speech that because of his commitment to the people he would not give in to the "great pressure" he had when Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard called him to open that company, which finally agreed to sell part of its production and help the state government to acquire ventilators to restart its operation.

The change was not only reflected in the words of Bonilla Valdez, who in recent days has struggled to minimize the respiratory illness caused by SARS CoV2, but in the number of companies that suspended operations.

 
Official data indicates that from April 18 (the last day that the Secretary of Labor, Sergio Moctezuma Martínez López appeared in the president's morning message) to Tuesday the 21st, the operation of six companies in BC were suspended, when the daily average had been 54 companies. The highest number was achieved on April 12, with 261.

At press time, in the global cumulative, the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare (STPS) suspended operations of 632 companies since April 7, bringing the total of 78,611 workers sent home.
The turnaround in Baja California occurs when the entire country is already in Phase 3 of the COVID-19 epidemic and the State ranks third in infections, with 852 confirmed cases, and second in deaths, with 96.


While the health authority at the federal level declares that in this Phase 3 the virus spreads rapidly, so there is an urgent need to suspend massive activities, including non-essential companies, in Baja California the governor is silent on the reopening of companies such as Safran , whose production is mainly focused on the aerospace sector, where a COVID-19 case had been confirmed at its Parque Pacífico plant in Tijuana.


On April 14, after a group of workers stopped activities, the head of the STPS went to the factory and, after referring to the agreement of the Federal Ministry of Health, asked managers to send staff to their homes along with enjoying their full salaries until April 30.


In its edition from April 17 to 23, ZETA reported that in said inspection, directors of that company had shown a letter from Foreign Minister Ebrard addressed to the president of Safran, according to Martínez López, who specified that the ventilators that the company would produce would not be produced in Baja California, where he is dedicated to the manufacture of aerospace equipment.


The closure determined by the state STPS was accepted by the company on April 14, however, on Monday, 20, workers reported that they had been contacted to restart operations the following day:


"Hello team, good morning. A few moments ago, Dave Harris and Greta Parra, through a conference, just informed us that we received authorization from the BC Government to restart operations tomorrow Tuesday 4/21/20 at our normal hours ”, with the exception of the staff considered as a vulnerable group and those people who would not be required, since the "start would be gradual".


Regarding this, Carlos Higuera, president of Tijuana's Economic and Industrial Development (Deitac), commented that Safran and Honeywell "sat down with the governor to talk and reach an agreement", since the former "has contracts with the United States Military, then, this is where the pressure comes from to open these operations. ”


The business leader explained that both the Baja California and the Mexican governments are receiving pressure from the United States consular body and from President Donald Trump himself to
restart certain operations that are essential to the American Union.


"We know that the pressure from the United States is far above a President of Mexico and much more than a governor, really the pressure exerted by companies of this type, especially those related to the US Military, are going to have all the media, of all kinds, politicians, diplomats, etc., to listen to and assert their rights, and this is no exception, "said Higuera.

MORE UNEMPLOYMENT AND WORKERS 'COMPLAINTS


With the revelation of more suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus of workers in the manufacturing sector, the activity stoppages have even been extended to those plants with essential activity, such as Surgical Specialties , in the medical sector.

Others, such as Parker Baja Servicios, SA de CV (mechanical sector) faced two stoppages this week until the company gave in to the workers' demand to suspend operations. In this, a group of employees reported that in the two plants in Mesa de Otay in Tijuana, the healthy distance was not respected, there is also no antibacterial gel and they received a reusable fabric mouthpiece that must be washed daily.


On Tuesday, April 21, after lunchtime was up at the Hisense plant in Rosarito, a group of people refused to return to their respective production lines. Given this, the managers decided to suspend operations throughout the plant for two weeks, during which time the company will pay full wages.


According to testimonies collected by ZETA , the electronic sector company continued to operate despite the fact that its activities were not essential; however, all the employees interviewed agreed that they took their temperature at the beginning and at the end of their working day, they were provided with mouth covers and gloves, and they were placed taking care of the healthy distance.


The same day, Hyundai suspended the operation of all its plants in the State, after a group of workers stopped work at the plant located near La Presa, demanding that activities be suspended.
Jesús Javier Medina Duarte, general secretary of the Mexico Moderno Union, said the workers' demonstration accelerated a cessation of activities program that had been established between the union and the company, which had previously obtained a permit from the state government to continue working , documenting that he had an urgent order for refrigerated trailer boxes (for transporting medicine and food).


He said that on Monday it was learned that a worker at Hyundai plant 1 died as a result of COVID-19 and from there "we all panicked ". That would explain why the workers decided to stop work and not wait for their plant to suspend operations according to what was agreed, said the representative of the Revolutionary Confederation of Workers and Peasants.


Another complaint referred to ZETA that in the Alaris BD plant , the Human Resources area had not granted paid rest days to a person who had temperature, cough, muscle pain and headache.
In this regard, Juan Pablo Solís, general manager of the company, assured in an interview with this Weekly that since the epidemic began, the plant takes the temperature on all shifts to everyone who enters the company, mouth covers are used and Filters were implanted so that whoever was unwell could go to the medical service.


The executive acknowledged that the company has a couple of confirmed cases of COVID-19 of workers working in administrative areas. They are already recovering at home.


Since the agreement issued by the federal Health Secretariat on March 31, just over 400 people who are considered to be in the vulnerable group have been sent home with full wages and more transportation routes have been implemented so that workers have a healthy distance.


Medina Duarte stressed that the operation of the Tijuana plant is essential, since the intravenous sets that are used by about 85% of hospitalized people are manufactured there. These products go to institutions of the Health Sector in Mexico and are also exported.

NOT ALL COMPANIES PAY FULL WAGES


Another person, who works at Grupo NAPS, reported that the maquila where he works, which makes cables for oil platforms, informed them that he would not pay full wages to his collaborators to suspend operations, despite the fact that the authority had said it was his obligation.


“They told us that if they were to give us time they would pay us only 60% of the salary, that an agreement was being made and that we should sign it”, but given the refusal of some, “we do not know what will happen because the in charge of human resources ”, he added.


In addition, they warned that the company asked to sign a sheet in which they allegedly stated that they were aware of the situation and that it would serve the company to support the endorsement of the workers, without actually accepting it and specifying the conditions of said agreement, pointed out the discontents.


Heriberto Galindo, president of the Industry Human Resources Association in Tijuana, confirmed that not all workers are being paid full wages.


In the vast majority of companies, staff are working directly and were sent home "with their 100% salary," but in those who do home office there is great variation, "there are many who are paying 100% , others who reached an agreement to work partially and make partial payments. ”


Carlos Higuera, from Deitac, indicated that what actually happened is that large companies paid 100% R, as many larger companies reached an agreement close to 100%, and the smaller ones, which are not directly maquiladores, negotiated some type of percentage, which on average ranges around 50%.


For his part, Galindo pointed out that around 90 thousand people from the manufacturing sector are at home, with which 130 thousand companies in BC have suspended operations.


After referring to the fact that the International Monetary Fund estimated that 2.9 million jobs will be lost in Mexico, he considered it necessary for workers, government and companies to unite to reactivate the economy and “not lose our sources of employment, because if that happens, it will not There will be money available to our government to replace wages, and this will lead to more insecurity in our regions, "he warned.

ALMOST 100 BUSINESS REQUESTS TO BE ESSENTIAL


On April 17, Index and state government officials agreed to establish an intersecretary group to analyze and, where appropriate, authorize requests from companies that require continued operations, arguing essential activity.


Carlos Higuera, president of one of the organizations that participates with the STPS, SEST, Cofepris and SSa, commented that until Thursday, April 23, one hundred companies had made the request. Of these, 10% refer to companies whose activity was suspended and require a process of maintenance and / or shipment of raw materials, with a minimum of personnel.

All the documents were sent to the State Government and it is expected that until next week there will be a response to the requests. The Commissioner of the Federal Commission against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris), David Gutiérrez Inzunza, agreed on this, confirming that so far no company is guaranteed to operate.


The authority's decision will be based on three criteria: that the company is essential, in accordance with its articles of incorporation, its contracts and the veracity of what is being reported "because lately all are essential," Gutiérrez stressed, in addition to complying with adequate prevention or sanitation measures.


"Another requirement is that they have a reintegration plan for their work teams, that is, that the restart be gradual," Higuera additionally noted."


 More reports within original link.

~~~~~ 

I feel kind of sick right now.  I hate Donald Trump. Well, up in the states I think one of our most fave reporters is Juan Gonzalez. If you haven't already, take a look at what he has to say where the USA is headed, and BTW, all the reports are so terrific. I'm sorry Mexico, I know apologies are never enough.

~ From Democracy Now ! 

Juan Gonzalez: "Make No Mistake : This Country Is Eding Closer to Neo-Fascist Authoritarianism"


~~~~~

Back with the drug war stats later.

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Let's Hope To God Frank Bruni Is Correct - Is A Curfew In Order For BC ? - Massacre In Rosarito Beach & Latest Drug War Stats For TIJ: 145 Executed This Month, YTD TIJ Total= 620 Dead/Executed

From The New York Times


Well, I'm not holding my breath - yesterday I was on the phone forever firming up upcoming Dr. appointments. The good news is that it is a go for my knee cortisone shots for the end of this week up at SRS (oh great I'll be able to walk), no eye appointment until July (so I'm still practically blind) and the hernia operation is still on hold.  But the shocker - and the reason I am not holding my breath is because on one of those calls where I was finally able to get through, I said to the receptionist, "God did you hear what Trump said about bleach, lysol and sunlight?"  "Oh right", she said, "did that come from CNN?"  I gasped . That alone is why I hope Frank Bruni is correct.  How many more millions of Trump fans had this very same reaction, despite the proof positive ?

Poor little Paris is not adjusting to her anti-biotics - actually she is, her tiredness is a by product of these, and her major operation is scheduled for the end of May. The mother cat (not Susan) who we call "Momie" has moved her kittens again somewhere outside- we can hear them, but can't find them.

~~~~~

Here is that New York Times report:

Injections of Bleach ? Beams of light ? Trump Is Self-Destructing Before Our Eyes 
By, Frank Bruni 


“And he’s going to get re-elected.”


"Not a day goes by without several friends — Republicans as well as Democrats — saying that to me. It’s the blunt coda to a bloated recitation of Donald Trump’s failures during this pandemic. It’s a whimper of surrender following a scream of disbelief.




Tens of thousands of Americans die; what does the president do? Spreads bad information. Seeds false hope. Reinvents history, reimagines science, prattles on about his supposed heroism, bellyaches about his self-proclaimed martyrdom and savages anyone who questions his infallibility. In lieu of leadership, grandstanding. In place of empathy, a snit. And he’s going to get re-elected.




With that refrain we perform a spiritual prophylaxis. We prepare for despair.

But somewhere along the way, we started to confuse a coping mechanism with reasoned analysis. We began to treat a verbal tic as inevitable truth.

It isn’t. While Trump may indeed be careening toward four more years, it’s at least as possible that he’s self-destructing before our eyes.




Maybe a toasty beam of sunlight is all that we need to wipe out the coronavirus? What if we just injected disinfectant into our veins? He floated both of those fantasies on Thursday, when he might as well have stepped up to the lectern in a tin foil hat. They’re the ramblings of a dejected, disoriented and increasingly desperate man.




As Katie Rogers and Annie Karni reported in The Times, the president feels isolated and embattled and is panicked that he’ll lose to Joe Biden in November. That state of mind, they wrote, prompted his executive order to halt the issuing of green cards, which is precisely the kind of base-coddling measure that he resorts to “when things feel out of control.”




He can read the polls as well as the rest of us can, and they show that while he stands there nightly in the White House briefing room and blows kisses at himself, Americans aren’t blowing kisses back.

A month ago there was much ado about a slight uptick in Trump’s job-approval numbers. But the real story was the slightness: Past presidents had experienced greater bumps during crises, when Americans tend to rally around their leader. For Trump there was no such rallying — just a grudging, incremental benefit of the doubt.




A fleeting one, too. His uptick quickly took a downturn, reuniting him with his anemic norm. According to the polling average at FiveThirtyEight as of late Friday afternoon, 52.5 percent of Americans disapprove of his job performance. Only 43.4 percent approve.




True, his favorability ratings weren’t any better in 2016 — in fact, they were worse — and he got to the White House regardless. But the dissonance of that victory could be explained partly by what he represented: a protest against the status quo. Now he is the status quo, and voters have had a chance to sample the disruption that he pledged. It tastes a lot like incompetence.

Other numbers tell an even scarier story for Trump. In all three of the battleground states that enabled his Electoral College victory three and a half years ago, he’s currently behind Biden — by 6.7 percentage points in Pennsylvania, 5.5 in Michigan and 2.7 in Wisconsin, according to the averaging of recent polls by RealClearPolitics. That website also puts him behind by 3.2 points in Florida, a state he won in 2016 and must win again.




Wisconsin alone should terrify Trump. In 2018, the Republican governor was ousted by a Democrat. So were the Republican lieutenant governor and attorney general. Then, this month, Wisconsin voters replaced a conservative incumbent on the state’s Supreme Court with a liberal challenger, her victory not just surprising but resounding. There’s no way to spin that in Trump’s favor.





According to monthly polling by Gallup, the percentage of Americans who indicated satisfaction with the way things were going in the country plummeted to 30 percent in mid-April from 42 percent in mid-March. Only twice before in the past two decades has there been a one-month decline that precipitous.





Maybe this drop was less a referendum on Trump’s stewardship than a recognition of the coronavirus’s devastation. But maybe not: Surveys reveal that a significant majority of Americans believe that he acted too late to stem the virus’s spread. He’s also out of step with most Americans’ appraisal of what will and won’t be safe in the immediate future.

Amid Trump’s dizzyingly mixed messages, he has rooted for a return to some semblance of normalcy around May 1 and has chided a few governors for overzealous lockdowns. But in a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research that was released on Wednesday, only 12 percent of Americans said that the social-distancing and shelter-in-place directives where they live went too far, while more than double that number — 26 percent — said that the precautions weren’t stringent enough. Sixty-one percent said that they were on the mark.

In a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll, 65 percent of Americans said it could take until June or later for gatherings of 10 people or more to be safe. And in a Yahoo News/YouGov poll, only 22 percent of Americans supported the protesters who have been demanding an end to their states’ restrictions, while 60 percent opposed them. President Trump has egged those protesters on.





Is he following some gut instinct or just flailing? I vote for the latter. Lately he has contradicted himself at a whole new pace and to a whole new degree, and he has undercut his own party’s talking points.





As Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman reported in The Times, Republicans have developed a strategy to evade any responsibility for Trump’s response to the pandemic by blaming and demonizing China. “But there is a potential impediment to the G.O.P. plan — the leader of the party himself,” Martin and Haberman wrote, noting that Trump has “muddied Republican efforts to fault China” by continuing to curry favor with President Xi Jinping. That tack certainly complicates Republicans’ efforts to paint Biden as a stooge of the Chinese. They can’t succeed with their new nickname for him, Beijing Biden, if Tiananmen Trump rings truer.


Also, Trump’s most optimistic pronouncements about imminent deliverance from the current misery represent a bigger gamble than the many others he has taken. If he’s wrong, there’s not going to be any hiding it. If he’s reckless, the toll is Americans’ very lives.





I know, I know: He’s Trump. He carries the secret weapon of his spectacular shamelessness, which means that he’ll resort to ploys and lies that even the most unscrupulous of his opponents wouldn’t attempt. He’ll destroy what he must so long as he gets to rule over the wreckage.




And the usual laws of nature don’t apply to him. He was caught on tape bragging about grabbing women by the crotch. Didn’t matter. He got nearly three million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton. Still he won. If he wasn’t exactly found guilty of elaborate coordination with the Russians, he was certainly shown to be open to it. Onward he rolled, and he kept rolling past his gross abuse of power in dealing with Ukraine and his richly deserved impeachment for it.

He’s Houdini, he’s Scheherazade, he’s all the escape artists of history and fiction rolled into one and swirled with golden-orange topping. He’s lucky beyond all imagining. But here’s the thing about luck: It runs out.





There’s incessant talk of how fervent his base is, but the many Americans appalled by him have a commensurate zeal. For every Sean Hannity, there’s a Rachel Maddow. For every Kellyanne Conway, a George Conway. She and her ilk may be wily in their defense of the president. He and his tribe are even better in their evisceration of him.





And what of the diaspora of refugees from the Trump administration: people like Rick Bright, the government scientist who says he was just stripped of his leading role in the search for a coronavirus vaccine because he wouldn’t parrot Trump’s cockamamie talking points? I predict that as November nears, more and more exiles will speak out, sharing alarming accounts of life inside the president’s hall of mirrors. Trump in turn will mutter about the “deep state,” but the phrase won’t fly when he’s left with such a shallow pool of charlatans around him — and when he’s making such a repellent fool of himself.

Don’t tell me that his nightly briefings are just a new version of the old stadium rallies; their backdrop of profound suffering makes them exponentially harder to stomach. Americans who take any comfort from them were Trump-drunk long ago. The unbesotted see and hear the president for what he is: a tone-deaf showman who regards everything, even a mountain of corpses, as a stage."


~~~~~ 

This next opinion piece is almost a week old, and some things have changed. Before that however, there are many people who believe we are simply not receiving the correct numbers of COVID-19 infections or deaths here locally and across the nation. This is being done on purpose it has been said, for political reasons.  

I am not entirely convinced that is the case.  Even now as we speak, cases have been discovered in California very early in February which were not initially reported as COVID-19 related deaths. Unknowingly, they were reported as atypical pneumonias, or organ failures. But it wasn't just California:


"The CDC acknowledged in a statement updated today that many deaths due to COVID-19 may have been misclassified as pneumonia deaths in the absence of proper testing. Reported deaths due to pneumonia spiked in March in several states, including Florida, New York, and Washington—a trend that has long been recognized by public health experts as signs that COVID-19 was already spreading undetected in the large parts of the US population.


Speaking to The New York Times in early April, Geraldine Ménard, the chief of general internal medicine at Tulane Medical Center in New Orleans, said that staff had recorded “a ton of patients with pneumonia” earlier in the year. “I remember thinking it was weird. I’m sure some of those patients did have it. But no one knew back then.”

 ~ From The Scientist: If link doesn't come up, google in the title.

First U.S. Covid-19 deaths Happened Weeks Earlier Than Thought 
by, Catherine Offord 


:So, I don't want to jump the gun on this one. If I am wrong, I am wrong...but so far, I do not believe that I am wrong. It could very well be the same as what Mexico experienced, and not an intentional hiding of the data for political purposes.

Rosarito Beach from what we can see for the most part, has been complying with people wearing masks and staying home.  We heard and saw from Zeta just a few days ago that east Tijuana is not.  Hopefully, they will zoom in on some of the other Muncipalities like Ensenada and further down south of Ensenada  - areas like Camalu, Colonet, San Quintin, etc.which is mainly rural.

From what we see and are hearing from people who actually are Health Service Providers,  the workloads are stressful and hectic, and they see rough seas ahead. Note how many of the Health Service Providers have become infected by the virus nationally and locally. 

 We are also very concerned over the Maqs which are still in operation where people working them have become infected, yet the Maqs stay open.

But, as you read this upcoming  piece, keep in mind that in the United States we also have this pressure in many States and within the general population to relax lock down orders. And as Americans we were sold down the river by Trump for dismissing Pandemic advise and studies and Agencies, not to mention allowing the national health supplies (so called stockpiles) to dwindle down to nearly nothing while he and his billionaire friends received massive tax breaks.


 The key in both countries is to have federally funded tests for everyone, abundant medical supplies, to be completely reinforcing  of small businesses which have had to shut down and individuals who have been laid off and strong leadership.  Can I say this ?  I think right now, Governor Jaime Bonilla and his team mates are doing the best they can humanly do under the given circumstances, and not just for political purposes.  I believe he really cares.  I cannot say that about Trump the cold fish, at all. Okay, so Zeta can rip me, but that is how I feel. Some of my Mexican friends roll their eyes at me already, what's new?

 ~ From Zeta:

Por, Adela Navarro Bello 


"Until April 21, 2020, Baja California held second place in the statistics for deaths due to COVID-19 infection among its population, with a figure of 96 fatalities. At the same time it was in third place in confirmed cases, only preceded by Mexico City and the State of Mexico, entities that far exceed the population of 3.3 million inhabitants that Baja California has.


As more tests are applied to check for coronavirus infections, and that is a measure with which Governor Jaime Bonilla Valdez seems to agree, the cases increase considerably. The worst, they say, is yet to come. It will arrive in the first week of May, and for which about 12 days remain.


In Baja California, and this has been well documented, the infrastructure of the health system is not the best nor is it in conditions that are no longer optimal, but rather equipped or supplied to face the pandemic that, like insecurity, has plagued the northern border of Mexico.

The state hospitals were already ill before they got worse when their capacities to care for patients with COVID-19 or those that without confirming their case are classified as atypical pneumonias were exceeded.


On the map presented every day by the federal Undersecretariat of Health, Baja California is the only state that appears in red, due to the greater spread of the virus, confirmed cases and deaths, outside the center of the country. Certainly, migratory mobility places this region, and this is seen in the statistics, facing a greater risk of contagion, but the near future in the development of contagions will depend on the actions that its governments, state and municipal, take.

In none of the five municipalities, and of course in the state, has a curfew been determined. The closings of companies have been at discretion. For example, stores such as Coppel or Electra are still open, because they have financial institutions, but in department stores where food, cleaning supplies and other household goods are sold, such as Walmart, Costco, Soriana, the areas where they have been closed They sell household appliances, clothing, or personal items, as if those items were not required in the contingency to cope with quarantine, such as supplying a clothes washer, for example. In these stores, in addition, measures have been taken that the Government has not mandated, as in Costco, which only allows access to people who wear gloves or face masks,in addition to providing sanitizers and antibacterial towels.

It is understood that "the objective" of the Government is to avoid that certain areas remain crowded, but also many of these companies have chosen to only allow access to make purchases to 50 people at the same time, one leaves and one enters, in addition to maintaining consumers in lines that keep a healthy distance. These actions, however, are not being considered by the Baja California authorities, which punish companies with partial closings, and benefit others with full openings.


Quarantine has not been adopted by Baja Californians, and governments have not contributed to a more aggressive campaign to keep people at home. That only one member of the family goes out to feed and the rest remain safe from infections on public roads. According to the mobility index that Google developed, in this state, only 22 percent decisively reduced their mobility.


And that is seen in the streets that are quite crowded with cars with one, two or more occupants, and while the established restaurants have closed and some serve ready-made food either through a home delivery service or pick them up personally , many remain open and serving diners at any time of the day, causing crowds in small establishments.


The Mayor of Mexicali, Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda, and her Cabildo, approved a week ago fines for those who celebrate parties in their homes, due to the concentrations of people that continued to take place despite the quarantine and the recommendation of the healthy distance. This has not happened in the other large city of Baja California and the one that concentrates the most cases of COVID-19 infections, such as Tijuana. In this border city, on the morning of Sunday, April 19, four people were injured at a party and one was killed. Among those who saved their lives but were injured was a policeman from the State Security Guard, the same ones who have been entrusted to watch the streets to verify that the people who transit do so because they carry out an essential activity and not because they are loitering.


To such action, supervise through the State Police that citizens do not leave their homes without just cause, evidently not supported by some members of the state corporation, the Governor has called it "a touch of conscience", so as not to interfere with this at the curfew.


Namely, only two municipalities in the country have decreed a curfew, to limit or restrict public activities for a certain period or time, in this case with the aim of containing the spread of the virus. No Governor has done so, although there have been those who have forced the use of the mask when the population is in public places, while others have chosen to carry out tests to detect positive cases and act accordingly to prevent dispersal. isolating them from the start.


In Baja California, according to the Secretary of Health, as of April 7, 700 tests had been performed out of 1,500 that reached the state, even so the entity ranks third in infections in the country. This poor reaction will be understood when knowing that, for example, in San Diego, California, neighboring Tijuana county, to date 34 thousand 920 tests have been performed, 2,343 positive cases and 87 deaths have been collected.


But even without hospital capacity, without sufficient evidence to check the population and isolate it in case of infections, and already in a Phase 3, in Baja California the State Government has not intensified social measures to prevent the spread of the virus that as expected it will be fatal. They persist in the healthy distance and in a quarantine that nothing else has permeated, in addition to discretionary closings and absurd comparisons such as "demonstrating" that there are more deaths from heart disease or cancer than from COVID-19 infection, and that such cases They have not stopped the economy or social life.


For this reason, given the intense mobility of the population in the state, particularly in Mexicali and Tijuana, Baja California is in need of measures to contain, as far as possible, community dispersion. It is not just about giving food supplies, but also that the Government helps by establishing the social, security, health and economic conditions to stay at home. If the hospitals are already overwhelmed, it would be time to isolate the population to reduce infections. Let's see when.


~~~~~ 

A Look At The Local Drug War Stats All Reports From Zeta.

(Note; Ensenada & points south will require a full blog) 

 ~ Rosarito Beach:


From Zeta: Multi-homicide in Rosarito Beach: Six are dead, 5 men and 1 woman.


"Between April 1 and 25, 25 homicides have been committed in Playas de Rosarito, 53 so far in 2020, and 86 murders in the seven months of the administration of Mayor Araceli Brown."


Masacre en Rosarito; Suma 83 Homicidios en Primeros y Meses del Tricenio 
Por, Gerardo Andrade 

"Five men and a woman were shot inside a house in Playas de Rosarito, where neighbors reported, drugs were used and sold .


According to information provided by staff of the Secretariat of Citizen Security of Playas de Rosarito, at 8:15 am on Saturday, April 25, a complainant reported that there was a person lying at the entrance of a house in the alley Manuel L. Ponce , in the La Ladrillera neighborhood, but the shots were heard the night before. (La Larilla is close to the Puerto Nuevo area.)


Residents of the La Ladrillera neighborhood, informed ZETA that it was during the night of Friday, April 24, when the detonations were heard, however, because there was a dense layer of mist, it was difficult to locate where the shooting had occurred.


It was not until Saturday morning that a neighbor, who preferred to omit his name, saw a man lying in the house and called the emergency number 911, said he did not know him.


He regretted that this area of ​​the fifth municipality has become commonplace to hear firearm detonations and see people who are engaged in the sale of drugs without the authorities doing anything about it.


"There (house where the six people were killed) they were dedicated to selling drugs, I did not know them, but it was obvious (the consumption and sale of drugs), I even saw the police several times, but they were still there, the property belonged to a man, but he could no longer evict them (addicts), ”said the neighbor.


Another resident of the area who was interviewed by ZETA, stated that when he left his house he saw the patrols outside the house where the multihomicide occurred, he immediately sensed the homicide, but never imagined that there would be six victims.


“What's more, once I saw a girl who come with her baby and I scolded her, because she was obviously going to get high. Many people came to get high, "said the resident.


They also pointed out that the robberies have increased in the houses of the La Ladrillera neighborhood in recent weeks, a fact that is attributed to more presence of people who use drugs.


Regarding the crime scene, the first municipal agents to arrive confirmed that at the entrance of the house, made of wood, attached to a mobile home, was the corpse of a "elderly" man, lying, who had an impact of bullet,  which is the reason why they requested the assistance of paramedics of the Red Cross.


The same uniformed men entered the house to carry out an inspection and found “five dead people piled up, who could be seen multiple bullet impacts”, then they notified the State Attorney General's Office (FGE).


According to the FGE, at 9:30 a.m. on April 25, elements of the State Investigation Agency (AEI) arrived at the scene to carry out the processing of the crime scene, who confirmed that several percussion casings of Long guns, five male and one female victim, who had not yet been identified as of Saturday afternoon.


Between April 1 and 25, 25 homicides have been committed in Playas de Rosarito, 53 so far in 2020, and 86 murders in the seven months of the administration of Mayor Araceli Brown."

~~~~~ 

 ~ Tijuana:

 ~ From Zeta: 

Matan a Honduereno;  145 Homicidios Durante Abril en Tijuana

 "So far this April, 145 intentional homicides have been registered in Tijuana, totaling 620 in these first four months of the year"


"On the night of Friday, April 24, a man was shot dead inside a grocery store, located on the Soldado José A. Caballero road, in the Valle Verde neighborhood of Tijuana.


It was at 10:35 p.m. that a report of a possible armed attack and an injured person as a result of this was received via C4. Upon arrival, the authorities realized that it was a male person without vital signs and with several injuries caused by a firearm projectile in the back.


The victim was identified as Marvin Adalberto Duarte, 21 years old and originally from Honduras. In the place, 7 .9 mm caliber bushings were also located.


So far this April, 145 intentional homicides have been registered in Tijuana, totaling 620 in these first four months of the year. On Friday the 24th, three homicides were registered, in different parts of the city. 

At 21:35 of the same 24, the lifeless body of an unidentified man was found abandoned on public roads. The discovery was near Caoba street in the La Joya subdivision, very close to the second access to Playas de Tijuana.


The man did not carry identification, according to the authorities, he is estimated to be between 25 and 30 years old, and had two injuries caused by a firearm, one in the head and the other in the left arm.


At 10:35 p.m., a 49-year-old man identified as Miguel Ángel Morales Sandoval died at the Bethel clinic. According to the authorities' report, the victim suffered an armed attack in the Terrazas del Valle neighborhood when he was in the company of another man, who was also injured but was transferred to another hospital in the city."

~~~

The COVID-19 Local and National Stats: 


The most recent and up to date reports will be available late tonight or tomorrow morning (04/26), particularly where they break down the Municipalities of Baja California, so let's wait for those.


~~~~~~

 ~ Carlos Alvarez reported this development on Zeta today,  and it is not good news:

 ~ From WHO:

"Immunity Passports" In The Context of COVID-19"
Scientific Brief 


~~~~~

And Zeta has reported that the Rolling Stones have recorded a new song regarding COVID-19 -
I need to listen to it first before I post it.  I just hope the Stones give any money they make off of this to all countries who need supplies and help. UPDATE: Posted it on the sidebar.

Take care everyone.