Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico Quickly Climbs to Seven Confirmed Positive COVID-19 Cases, Including Local Physician
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
The northern State of Coahuila City of Piedras Negras, Mexico on the United States-Mexico border opposite of Eagle Pass, Texas quickly went from having two confirmed positive COVID-19 cases on March 30, 2020 to seven as of April 5, 2020, including a local physician.
Piedras Negras, Coahuila Mayor Claudio Bres Garza received notice from the State of Coahuila Department of Health on Sunday, April 5, 2020 that two additional persons had tested positive for COVID-19 in the City of Piedras Negras, spiking the total to seven in less than a week.
One of the two new cases include a local physician at the Salvador Chavarria General Hospital in Piedras Negras, raising concerns among local physicians and healthcare workers.
Piedras Negras Mayor Claudio Bres Garza has engaged in a strong public campaign urging all residents of the city to stay at home and practice social distancing in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the community. Piedras Negras is estimated to have a population of 200,000 and much larger within its surrounding region in northern Coahuila.
Testing of people complaining of symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, coughing, and respiratory breathing problems is the key to learning the potential spread of the lethal virus within the community. Currently, Mexico is experiencing problems with the timely return of COVID-19 tests and a lack of testing labs.
The State of Coahuila Department of Health reported a total of 88 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases statewide as of Sunday, April 5, 2020, including 54 in the City of Monclova, 13 in the City of Saltillo, 10 in the City of Torreón, 7 in Piedras Negras, 1 each in the Cities of Acuna, San Juan de Sabinas, Sacramento, and Matamoros. A total of 11 persons have been hospitalized and four have passed away from COVID-19, including a female physician in the City of Monclova.
Piedras Negras’ sister city on the United States, Eagle Pass, Texas also has a total of seven confirmed positive COVID-19 cases as of Sunday, April 5, 2020, with a population of approximately 30,000 and 60,000 within Maverick County, Texas.
Piedras Negras and Eagle Pass public officials are working closely together in monitoring the spread of COVID-19 in their respective communities on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Mexico has now implemented health screenings of Americans traveling southbound into Mexico at U.S.-Mexico Port of Entries as of Saturday, April 4, 2020, including in Piedras Negras, Coahuila. If a U.S. citizen is found to have symptoms of COVID-19 or test positive for COVID-19, Mexican health authorities may quarantine you in Mexico or request that you return to the United States.
The United States Embassy and Consulates issued a Department of State Global Health Advisory at Level 4 advising Americans not to travel to Mexico during the Holy Week-Easter holiday due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. Consul General Kathryn Flachsbart in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico in a video presentation stated that all U.S. citizens should avoid all international travel and that “this is not the time to make that trip to Mexico” to visit one’s family, relatives, and friends during Holy Week-Easer holiday due to COVID-19. Consul General Flachsbart added that “If you are a citizen that normally resides in the United States, you should arrange for your immediate return unless you are prepared to stay for an indefinite period in Mexico.” Consul General Flachsbart also stated that the U.S. Department of State “encourages U.S. citizens to stay home and limit travel unless it is absolutely essential.”
