Five years after the arrival of COVID-19 to Mexico, who suffered the death of a loved one or survived the serious illness remember as if they were yesterday those “horrible” days, because they still suffer from the physical and emotional sequels of the virus, which claimed the lives of more than 335,000 people in the country, according to official figures.
María de los Ángeles Piñón Solano sproutes her tears when she talks about her husband Javier Silverio, who died during the second wave of Covid-19 in Mexico.
“Five years is as if it had been yesterday because it still feels) the pain, the absence is very strong and I, at least, have not yet overcome it,” says Piñón Solano while drowning the crying.
Behind him, on a colorful altar, you see Javier’s photo, a fortachón man, smiling and who, they suppose, infected when visiting a compadre in the state of Querétaro where he had a ranch.
Susana Piñón, Javier’s daughter, recalls those days of touring various hospitals to find a bed and, after several hours of pilgrimage for various medical institutions, managed to intern their father.
“We were throughout the city at night and in every hospital we arrived was (think) ‘I hope and accept it to you,” he recalls.
For Susana, the most painful thing to intern his father was to sign a permission in case it was necessary to intubate him and prepare for the death of his loved one “one clings not to have to listen to that,” he says.
While Javier struggled for his life, half of his family also suffered the ravages of the virus; And although they hoped to meet again, in the end the father died in the hospital, in solitude.
“It is a strong pain not to say goodbye to the person and (not being able to say: ‘Go alone’ even,” says Maria.
Maria says that in addition to sadness, she has the sequelae of Covid-19: the cold affects her lungs, so they have to take care more in winter and rainy season; And in addition, the economic impact as its bakery, a business founded by Javier, “that to date could not be replaced.”
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), which declared pandemic on March 11, more than 7 million people have died from COVID-19 worldwide, with figures updated to January 2025.
Read more: the COVID-19 paralyzed the world 5 years ago: this is how its economic impact continues
Loneliness and lessons learned during pandemic
Although five years have passed, Ariel Sosa, who is a serious Covid survivor, remembers how difficult it was to see how people died due to the virus.
“I saw the lady who was next to me dying, who arrived at the three days that I was hospitalized, I remember that she was her birthday, she sang the mornings, the nurses and the doctors, they were at the foot of the cannon,” he recalls.
The journalist also tells that the sick was sent to a temporary hospital installed in the Hermanos Rodríguez Autodrome where the most difficult thing was to see people die in solitude.
“What hurt me the most is that deep loneliness in which people died. Because no one could approach, there were no relatives, the only ones who were there, (they were to the ones) that I named as astronauts, because they arrived practically as astronauts, covered even of shoes with special suits, ”he says.
His experience was reflected in the book “Ariel Sosa, Coronavirus in her own flesh”, which seeks to honor and leave testimony of what pandemic was in Mexico.
Jarbas Barbosa, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), points out that Pandemia left many lessons, including the need to strengthen laboratory capacity, early detection especially in relation to the rapid transmission of virus such as SARS-COV-2.
He also says, evidenced the difficulty of equitable access to technologies such as vaccines, personal protective equipment, so it is key to strengthen the production capacity of health technologies in the region to face a new pandemic and respond to current challenges.
“I believe that today we are better prepared than we were five years ago, but we cannot think that we are ready (…) It is necessary to strengthen the capacity, it is necessary to have exercises, drills, identify where there are gaps so that they can be filled,” he says.
For his part, Guillermo Torre, rector of the Tec Salud Institute, points out that the pandemic showed that the health system in Mexico should be improved, in addition to the importance of the culture of prevention and public-private collaboration.
“Recognize the shortcomings, seek how to have a greater public-private relationship and learn from both, but also have an opening that is what happens in the world more quickly and agility,” he emphasizes.
With EFE information
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