By THE PULSE NEWS MEXICO STAFF

The Mexican government announced Wednesday, March 25, that the country will officially enter Phase 3 of efforts to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus on Thursday, March 26.

Under the provisions of Phase 3, which were announced by Public Health Undersecretary Hugo López-Gatell in a press conference late Thursday night, all nonessential government workers and are advised to stay home and to work from home, going out only for basic needs such as grocery shopping and medical care.

If people do go out of their houses, López-Gatell said they should continue to practice social distancing.

Essential workers are those in the health, security, sanitation and energy providing sectors.

López-Gatell also recommended that all private sector companies that have not yet done so should implement work-from-home measures until the virus has been contained.

So far, Mexico has registered 475 cases of the disease, with six deaths, but since Covid-19 testing is not widely practiced here, the numbers are most probably higher.

The Public Health Secretariat advised that those with mild symptoms of the disease (fever, dry cough and difficulty breathing) should contact their medical providers from a distance (i.e., via phone, text or internet) and those who are having sever symptoms should seek immediate first-hand support.