With Coronavirus spreading across Canada and the United States, it is only a matter of time before it hits Mexico. My thoughts on living in Mexico during the Coronavirus pandemic and the country’s greatest obstacle to battling the spread.
I don’t want to add to the anxiety fuelled clutter and noise about Coronavirus. If you are interested in what’s happening in Mexico, read on.
I love cultures that revolve around community, family and celebration, so it’s not a coincidence where I have chosen to live these past nine years. In Laos, the village is the nucleus of life. The community is a person’s safety net and law. The Lao have an expression that translates as “Eat alone, the food is not tasty”. Eating alone is considered weird. Friendships are cemented by sharing beer from the same glass.
While living in Vietnam, a country of almost 100 million people, I have been on expansive beaches where hundreds are intensely clustered in a single spot. A crowd is fun and safe — the more the merrier! And you wouldn’t even think about leaving Grandma at home. There she is in the shade, in her favourite floral pyjamas, minding her grandsons.
Like Vietnam, Mexico’s idea of personal space is slim. I was on kilometre-long Los Ayala beach last week. A family set up right in front of me, literally standing on my towel. There was plenty of space elsewhere, but to suggest “social distancing”? Might as well tell them they can’t drink beloved Corona beer anymore. Stopping a pandemic isn’t just a battle to educate people on hygiene, it’s trying to change their cultural DNA.
Mexicans greet everyone with a hug and kiss. They adore beach time, always as a group. Abuela must come too, even if it means pushing her wheelchair through the sand. Large celebrations and gatherings are the norm. This social fabric combined with the lack of government concern, as well as an already overburdened medical system is a terrifying scenario. Several news outlets (New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, Los Angeles Times) have recently reported on Mexico’s disturbing unpreparedness and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s flippant attitude.
At a rally the president held up two good luck amulets and declared they would protect him.
“The protective shield is the ‘Get thee behind me, Satan,’” López Obrador said, reading off the inscription on the amulet, “Stop, enemy, for the Heart of Jesus is with me.” (Time)
At another rally he went into the crowd to kiss and hug as many supporters as he could. In fact, he is encouraging Mexicans to not stop hugging and kissing. “No pasa nada,” he said, “Don’t worry/it doesn’t matter”. In Mexico City over 100,000 people attended a music festival.
Mexico is in Phase 1 of the pandemic, and information and scientific facts have been slow to reach the country’s 128 million people. As of March 18, there are, officially, 118 cases and one death. While some half measures have been implemented — the public schools’ Semana Santa spring break has been extended and large public gatherings cancelled — it will be all for naught since the message on social distancing and self isolation has been weak.
Semana Santa or Holy Week is the week before Easter; it is the most important public holiday in Mexico. The week is filled with Catholic processions, celebrations and family get togethers. It is also when Mexicans head en masse to the beach. This year Semana Santa falls on April 5 to 11, 2020. If projections are correct, a spike in Coronavirus cases will coincide with the holiday. If a fraction of the population go through with planned celebrations, vacation and days at the beach, the spread of the virus will be devastating.
Right now on my lane there is a large party. I can hear joyful chatter, laughter and singing along with the blaring mariachi music. For the first time ever, the sound of celebration and laughter brings me sorrow.
