Mexico City - True to form, US President Donald Trump has warned coronavirus could spread from
Mexico, touting his anti-migrant wall as a solution. Seen from
south of the border though, the greater risk is infection from
the much bigger outbreak in the United States.
Residents of the city of Tijuana, just across from San
Diego, California, have for years crossed back and forth daily
to reach jobs and schools. Many say they are now wary of
bringing back the contagious disease from the US side.
Perla Macias, a Tijuana resident who heads into California
to tend a make-up concession in a mall, now sees her commute as
a daily risk, but an unavoidable one.
"I don't want to get sick, but I don't have a choice," she
said. "I work over there."
In Mexico, authorities have detected 12 cases of the virus
so far and no deaths, a fraction of the more than 1 000
confirmed cases in the United States, where there have been
dozens of fatalities.
In California alone 50 cases and four deaths have been
confirmed. In Tijuana's state of Baja California, no cases have
been confirmed.
WALL WISECRACKS
Last week, Trump wrote on Twitter that his signature border
wall is needed "more than ever," citing coronavirus as a new
argument for the barrier.
The overwhelming majority of Mexicans oppose the wall,
dating back to Trump's campaign for president in which he
routinely lashed out at Mexico and its migrants.
Across social media though, Mexicans joked on Thursday that
the wall had taken on new purpose - to stop US citizens
infecting Mexicans.
Wisecracks aside, Julian Palombo, a Tijuana business chamber
official said what was needed was much tougher measures to check
for infections coming from San Diego.
"It makes sense to build a wall, but a public health wall
from over there to here to avoid the risk of possible
infections," he said.
Like others consulted by Reuters, Palombo bemoaned the lack
of checks at busy land crossings into Tijuana, or in nearby
airports. He added that face masks and hand sanitizer were in
short supply on both sides of the border.
Coronavirus has infected more than 126 000 people globally
according to a Reuters tally, most of them in China. In Italy
there are 15 000 cases.
Some experts speculate that the outbreak is more acute in
both Mexico and the United States than the relatively low number
of confirmed cases suggests, due to insufficient testing for the
virus. Mexican authorities say they have a clear containment
strategy.
Tijuana Mayor Arturo Gonzalez Cruz has said that he is
working with Baja California state officials to implement better
health checks on persons crossing on foot each day.
Dulce Molina, whose husband works in a San Diego hotel,
supported tougher sanitation measures at the border but said a
physical barrier was not a solution to keeping the virus out.
"It's all over the world," she said.