Health officials in the border states of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas are carrying out drills and establishing protocols in preparation for a future case of Coronavirus (COVID-2019). While the country has not confirmed any cases, officials are starting to become more concerned over the rapid spread worldwide.

On Wednesday, Nuevo Leon’s Health Secretary Manuel de la O Cavazos said during a news conference there are strong possibilities that a future carrier of the Coronavirus could end up at a border state hospital since those areas see a considerable amount of international commerce and travel.

“We have to be ready, there is a lot of movement in Mexico and in Nuevo Leon, it is very likely that it could reach here,” he said.

In the border city of Reynosa, officials carried out a series of drills at local hospitals and reviewed protocols to follow in the case that a patient with Coronavirus appears.

Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas each have had one suspicious case where individuals returned from China with consistent upper respiratory symptoms. Both were eventually cleared.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.

Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report