The president commented that he does not use it because he is not infected and if he does use it it will be out of respect for the people.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who refuses to use the mask in public, assured this Tuesday that it is not known “for sure” if the mask works and said that he does not put it on because he is not “infected” by Covid-19
” I do not wear it because I keep my distance and because the doctor has told me that it is not necessary if I am not infected, that you have to put it on so as not to infect other people,” he said at a press conference with the Secretary of Health, Jorge Alcocer, and the undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell.
Although he does not use it, he applauded the Mexican people because they are “very aware” of the pandemic and because most people wear face masks on the street “even without knowing for sure whether it helps or not,” he said.
” If I ever wear a mask, it would be for the people, out of respect for the people, ” he said.
The Mexican president has not moved his stance on the mask one iota despite the fact that for months most health authorities have recommended using it on the street and it is mandatory in closed spaces such as shops and restaurants.
López Obrador assures that he does not wear it because López-Gatell, the person in charge of designing the strategy against the coronavirus, who in March questioned the scientific evidence of the mask but later recommended its use.
Scientists such as the Nobel Prize winner Mario Molina, who died last October, defended the usefulness of this instrument and asked López Obrador to use it in public to set an example for the population.
Even so, it is common to see the president at public events surrounded by authorities, such as governors or members of his cabinet, who wear face masks except him.
Faced with criticism from the opposition, he even said in July that he would wear a mask in public when “there is no corruption” in Mexico.
Since the arrival of the coronavirus in the country last February, a large part of López Obrador’s cabinet has fallen ill with covid-19: the Secretary of the Navy, Rafael Ojeda; that of Transport, Jorge Arganis; that of Agriculture, Víctor Villalobos; that of Energy, Rocío Nahle; that of the Treasury, Arturo Herrera, and that of the Public Function, Irma Eréndira Sandoval.
Also the head of government of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, as well as 11 other state governors.
With 92,100 deaths and 933,155 confirmed cases, Mexico is the fourth country in the world in deaths and seven of the 32 states of the country are experiencing outbreaks.
Source: eltiempo.com, forbes.com.mx