Mexico faces mid-term elections for Congress in the fall, and President Felipe Calderón’s National Action Party is trailing slightly in the polls over its main rivals, who would like nothing better than to see a health emergency translate into a political defeat. In the face of a public health system that seemed incapable of diagnosing and treating the outbreak quickly, the government felt it had little choice but to shut down Mexico City, dealing a severe blow to an already crippled economy.
今年秋天，墨西哥国会将迎来中期选举，总统费利佩·卡尔德龙所在的国家行动党在民意调查中目前略微落后于主要竞争对手。这些竞选对手最希望看到的莫过于国家行动党在医疗卫生事件上政治行动的失败。疫情暴发后，墨西哥的公共医疗卫生体系似乎无力迅速诊治患者、控制疫情，政府不得不下令“关闭”墨西哥城，给原本已举步维艰的经济带来重创。