"One year later the WHO acknowledged it had exaggerated...."[Mises.org] Mexico's president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has been reluctant to impose mandatory "social distancing" orders on the Mexican population. According to USNews, López Obrador "has maintained a relaxed public attitude" toward COVID-19, and the Mexican government did not impose a ban on "nonessential" work until March 30, long after health officials in other countries insisted Mexico must do so....
The Mexican government is right to be hesitant to shut down Mexican businesses. The distance between a "normal" economy and grinding poverty is a lot smaller in Mexico than in a wealthy country like the United States or Germany. While mandatory lockdowns in rich countries will cause mass impoverishment‐complete with all the usual mental and physical health problems that accompany it‐the stakes are even higher in a middle-income country like Mexico.
Moreover, many Mexicans are already suffering from the mandatory shutdowns in the US. In 2019, for example, Mexicans working in the United States sent more than $39 billion back to Mexico. This is a vital lifeline for many Mexicans, and these remittances are likely to be decimated by the government-forced shutdown....
WHAT MEXICO LEARNED FROM THE H1N1 PANIC
This isn't the first time Mexicans have been commanded to lock down their economy to battle a disease.
During the H1N1 pandemic of 2009, Mexican officials closed schools for a week, locked down various businesses, canceled movies, concerts, soccer games, and "virtually forced the entire population to wear ineffective face masks." Mexico experienced 390 deaths out of a population of 120 million.
This had devastating effects for Mexico's economy, especially its tourist industry....
It may be that many Mexicans will fear COVID-19 more than they feared H1N1. But in Mexico, many are also familiar with the hardships poverty brings, and fear of being destitute may trump fears about the disease. Although wealthy Americans with secure employment and luxurious lifestyles like Anthony Fauci continue to insist mass unemployment is merely "inconvenient," few Mexicans have the luxury of such blasé thinking.