The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Mexico in February 2020. However, the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) reported two cases of COVID-19 in mid-January 2020 in the states of Nayarit and Tabasco, one case per state.
As of May 13, there had been 40,186 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Mexico and 4,220 reported deaths, although the Secretariat of Health said in early May 2020 that there were more than 104,562 cases in Mexico.
Background
On January 12, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a large group of people in Wuhan, Hubei, China, which was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019.
Early action
On January 22, 2020, the Secretariat of Health issued a statement saying that the novel coronavirus COVID-19 was not a threat to Mexico. 441 cases had been confirmed in China, Thailand, South Korea, and the United States. A travel warning was issued on January 9.
First cases
On February 28, Mexico confirmed its first three cases. A 35-year-old man and a 59-year-old man in Mexico City and a 41-year-old man in the northern state of Sinaloa tested positive and were held in isolation at a hospital and a hotel. They had travelled to Bergamo and stayed in Italy for a week in mid-February.
López Obrador's reaction
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador did not take the pandemic seriously such as the impact of coronavirus. He said "Pandemics ... won't do anything to us," and criticized the press and the opposition for its reportage.
A poll showed that 63% of Mexicans feared contracting COVID-19 and 25.5% feared dying from it. 28% said they were not willing to stay in their homes. 38.6% believed President López Obrador was handling the situation well, and 37% disapproved.