Mexican health officials revealed that President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) will not go into quarantine after meeting with a governor who later tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He reportedly will not seek other protective measures as well, officials said.
Hidalgo Governor Omar Fayad announced Saturday evening that he tested for COVID-19 and his results were positive. Through social media, the governor said he had gone into quarantine and had contacted those he came in contact with.
According to the President’s Office in Mexico, Fayad attended an event at the National Palace on March 18 and met with AMLO. The governor reportedly sat next to the president for one of the daily news conferences. That news conference is where the Mexican president flashed some amulets and a $2 dollar bill claiming that they would protect him from any pandemic. Just hours after Fayad’s announcement, Mexico’s Undersecretary of Health Hugo Lopez-Gatell said that measures such as going into quarantines or testing the president were not needed. His comments came during the question and answer section of a streamed news conference regarding COVID-19.
“It doesn’t apply because the relevant period begins in the case of the affected person when he begins to develop symptoms,” Lopez Gatell said claiming that at the time of the meeting Fayad did not show any symptoms so he was not contagious. “The tests are done to verify the state of a sick individual, to do one right now would yield little benefit.”
Lopez Gatell claimed that according to science-based strategy, the tests should only be used on individuals who are showing upper respiratory symptoms and there is little benefit to carrying out mass tests throughout the population. Despite the claims made by Lopez-Gatell, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that while a person is most contagious while showing symptoms, there have been cases of asymptomatic individuals spreading the virus.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report
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