Mexico Health Workers Protest For Dignity Of Life Amid Coronavirus Scare

Despite Mexican officials reiterating that the country is sufficiently armed with medical supplies, raging protests by health professionals paint a different reality altogether.

Mexico logged in 74,500 cases and over 8,100 deaths on Tuesday, May 26. Meanwhile, over 11,000 frontline workers have been infected with COVID-19 as per the government statistics. It is believed that more than half of the coronavirus-related deaths are that of medical staff -- about 55%, while nurses represent 17%. The remaining 28% includes ambulance workers, maintenance staff, lab technicians, and others, suggests a report. The numbers exclude additional 8,275 cases that await results post a lab test.

On Monday, things turned awry after medical staff gathered outside the premises of the capital’s prestigious National Institute of Respiratory Illnesses. The reason for protesting was simple: Being forced to reuse masks and gown, thus running the risk of contracting the infection while treating others.

“I don’t want to be contaminated!” chorused the protesters, urging that equipment-recycling mandate stood as a direct threat to the very existence of “heroes” -- a title of honor given to Mexican healthcare workers by President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

The protest came after two coronavirus-related deaths of medical workers, Dr. Rodolfo Jiménez Sosa and Patricia Hernández Gúzman, a nurse.

The staggering rise in the number of doctor deaths in the outbreak due to the shortage of protective gear is one concern; meanwhile the fear of assault is another. There has been a steady rise in the number of cases of assaults on frontline workers -- from angry confrontations to violent outbursts, Mexican caregivers are often at the receiving end of unfair treatment at the hands of patients and their antsy relatives.

Early last week, the Mexico City reportedly unraveled a rather murky extortion ring that targeted frontline workers hailing northern Mexico to fill up the positions vacated by infected medicos.

Protests amid the growing pandemic scare aren’t new in Mexico. In fact, protests have become a norm in the state ever since its first case was recorded in February. The angst is often directed at how their repeated pleas for safety gear had fallen on deaf ears.