Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Mexico City
(Photo : Gustavo Graf on Reuters)
People exercise in the Nezahualcoyotl neighborhood, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues, in Mexico City, Mexico. March 25, 2020.



Active street vendors and consumers alike still crowd the popular beaches and streets in Mexico. Social distancing and shut down of some establishments are practiced but not all are following the preventive measures.

In Mexico, where people live and earn day by day providing various services to people, life is going to be relatively hard compared to the United States and Europe. The Mexican government also is unwilling to implement some of the extreme preventive measures like the lockdown of Mexico to fight off the virus. But they are suggesting to take extra careful measures to avoid being infected by the virus.  

AMLO: Do not stop living your lives as usual

According to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, people in Mexico will continue to live their life as usual and wait for the announcement of the Mexican government when to tell them to stay at home. 

He also added that at the moment, the people can still get together keeping themselves at a healthy distance. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also told the Mexicans not to stop going out until he says so.

Day to Day Life

Many Mexicans work and earn in the streets day to day so President Andrés Manuel López Obrador urged people to go out to restaurants. People however fear that the lockdown might affect the economy, as well as the lives of Mexicans who work day by day to provide for their families.

Millions of citizens in Mexico live day to day. This means that what they earn for a day will only get them through one day. Basically, if they stop working, they stop living.

A Less Than Ordinary Monday

Mexico City also experienced bad business traffic last Monday. With an estimated population of 21 million people in the metropolitan area, there used to have light traffic compared to the heavy traffic that occurred on Monday.

Businesses like banks, restaurants and stores almost had no customers. Employees also spend most of their time disinfecting tables and windows as they expect for incoming customers. 

On the other hand, public markets, street vendors, and food stands in the subway had a great boost of customers. The subway system transports 5.5 million people a day. Passengers that day were fully packed. Some countries located in the south of Mexico already cut their transportation and had declared lockdown fearing that COVID-19 might be widely spread due to physical contact. 

No Lockdowns for Mexico

Mexico is still not declaring a lockdown and limit on the activities of federal governments despite the total number of 316 coronavirus cases with two deaths. The government urges people to observe and practice preventive measures to fight off coronavirus. Some officials are starting to take measures to lessen the crowd in public places.

Mexico City, which is headed by the party of López Obrador's Morena gave an order to close public places that are mostly visited by people including movie houses, bars and places that can cater huge amounts of people. They also announced that gatherings of more than 50 people are prohibited.

Businessmen also continue in the streets of Mexico as it is a major necessity for the people. About 56 percent of the laborers in Mexico belonged to the informal sector as they are self-employed and labelled as vendors. 

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