Coronavirus

No deaths from coronavirus have been recorded in Mexico, but a sixth case was reported last Friday in Mexico City after a 71-year-old man returned from one of the Italian infected cities.

The other five COVID-19 cases are from students from central and southern Mexico, who were on a studying abroad program in northern Italy.

Over the past week I have been reading Mexico’s news and friends/family’s social media platforms, where I have found videos that show the panic the spread of this virus is causing.

There are not many cases and the government has not called action to cancel work or school, but people are getting prepared for what could be an emergency for the country. No cleaning or chlorine products are being found, and grocery stores like Costco, Sams and Walmart run out of the products within 30 minutes of restocking, according to a relative.

Activist Women

Although the spread of coronavirus is a concern for people in Mexico, this past weekend every post on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter was about the activist women’s protest for the International Women’s Day and the strike for what was called “a day without women.”

Photos taken at the protest by Edén Arroyo (cousin).

The protest took place on March 8 in many cities across the country, but Mexico City had more than 80,000 participants. The national strike in which women would stay home pretending to disappear, was a day after the International Women’s Day on March 9.

Some of the actions that women took for the strike were: staying home, not doing any shopping or chores outside of home, not sending daughters to schools, avoid using social media or anything that would economically benefit the government. 

After many femicides in the country and a desperation to end sexism, the goal for the strike was to show the nation how important women are, and cause a recession to the country of over 34 million pesos ($17 millions).

On Facebook, women were called to post a black and white photography of themselves in representation of those that are not with them anymore — victims of gender violence, sexual assault and femicide.

Photo by me.

By the Numbers

According to the Executive Secretariat of the Public Security of the National System (SNSP), in 2019 there were 35 thousand reported murders, which has been the deadliest year from homicides in over 20 years.

A crisis emerged in the country due to two major concerns, but women strikes seem to be more impactful than the spread of the coronavirus.