Sex workers in Mexico City now receive a monthly benefit of converted almost 81 dollars as compensation for the declining clientele due to Covid-19. The capital closed the hotels where the prostitutes worked, because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The sex workers stood in a long line on Saturday to receive the special bank card on which the subsidy payment will be made. The issue was organized by the NGO Brigada Callejera, who defends the rights of sex workers.
“We will receive the subsidy from the municipality for six months,” said Elvira Madrid. The spokeswoman explained to the EFE news agency that this money is on top of the food packages distributed last week. But it is precisely the diet of the Mexicans that the government is concerned.
Vulnerable to corona
Decades of bad eating habits have left the population with an epidemic of health problems like obesity, making them more vulnerable to the new coronavirus. That said, the Mexican Undersecretary of Health Hugo López-Gatell at a news conference on Saturday.
Mexico has 1,890 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 79 deaths from that disease. Two hundred two new infections and 19 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, and that is almost double of the 118 infections and ten deaths yesterday.
“These people, unfortunately, had chronic illnesses or were older,” said López-Gatell. “This is the result of at least four decades of poor nutrition, a diet created by the low nutritional quality and very high-calorie products, especially in processed foods.”
According to the government official, Mexico has one of the world’s highest diabetes and obesity rates. The World Health Organization (WHO) previously said that diabetes patients belong to the risk group that can become seriously ill from the coronavirus.
President remains positive
However, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador remains optimistic. On Saturday afternoon, during a visit to a military hospital, he stated that the Mexicans could overcome the pandemic “with the support of the armed forces,” according to a report by Notimex news agency.
