Mexico’s COVID-19 czar, Hugo Lopez Gatell, blames the media for reporting the deaths instead of taking responsibility for his disastrous plan regarding the pandemic.
MEXICO CITY (El Universal) – This Wednesday, when the number of deaths from Covid-19 in Mexico officially surpassed 200,000, the Undersecretary of Health, Hugo López-Gatell, accused the media of having a “penchant for round numbers” and concentrating on the saddest side of the epidemic.
At the conference where it was announced that Mexico has 200,211 deaths due to the coronavirus, he affirmed that the media are reporting the figure “represent interest groups that are against the changes of the Fourth Transformation.”
“I can see (the headline) tomorrow in several newspapers of national circulation. I say this based on experience because we see it…,” added López-Gatell.
“Because when we reached 30,000, they put it… when we reached 50,000, they put it… when we reached 100,000, they put it. It wouldn’t be surprising if (they put it in when we hit) 200,000. There seems to be a fondness for round numbers. Every time a number is completed, they like to put it in,” he continued.
Criticism for publicizing death cases
Lopez-Gatell claimed that the media use families’ pain and even act as “spokespersons” for those who lost a loved one to Covid-19. “There is in these media and several other television, radio, this penchant for concentrating on the saddest side of the epidemic,” he insisted. It is understood that it is for several reasons, of course, to have more profits, increasing the newspapers’ profitability, that the shares go up, the commercial aspect. Still, it is also to use the grief, the pain and sadness of the people.”
“It seems as if they were their representatives, I am not sure that 200 thousand families have conferred this capacity to the media”, he pointed out.
Advances in vaccination
Speaking about the vaccination against Covid-19, Lopez-Gatell said that yesterday 95,538 doses were applied, and in total, 6 million 243,886 Mexicans have already been immunized.
On the other hand, he confirmed that the vaccination strategy against the virus would be modified so that teachers will no longer be immunized but older adults living in the country’s urban areas.
“We are making a change in tactics. How long will it last, as long as necessary to protect people, starting with dense urban areas that have the highest probability of resurgence.” Earlier, when he was in Campeche, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced that the National Vaccination Plan against the virus would be reinforced to immunize the 15 million seniors and not teachers at the same time, as had been planned.
