López-Gatell was photographed over the weekend in what appears to be an oceanfront restaurant in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, in the tourist-friendly beach town of Zipolite. The images quickly went viral on social media.
He can be seen sharing a table with a woman. He does not wear a mask, which is not mandatory if he is in restaurants that are allowed to be open.
Another viral photo from a few days earlier also showed López-Gatell in an airplane flight with his cell phone, his mask pulled down under his nose and chin.
Travel through Mexico is currently largely unrestricted, so the Deputy Health Minister did nothing illegal to continue traveling, even though he ignored his own guidelines and those of local officials.
Many in Mexico are enraged by the apparent hypocrisy of the Johns Hopkins-trained epidemiologist, whose message of Stay at home, or Stay at home, has become a household name. Since the start of the pandemic, López-Gatell has held nightly press conferences widely broadcast in Mexico urging people to wear masks properly and practice social distancing.
Online, people expressed anger that López-Gatell would be traveling at a time when medical personnel are under such pressure. “If thousands of doctors have not seen their families in Mexico or have died, if tens of thousands of health workers cannot dream of taking a vacation, there will be a picture,” wrote Xavier Tello, health policy analyst in Mexico City.
In hard-hit Mexico City, nearly 30 public hospitals report reaching 100% capacity, with many others approaching that point. The metropolis reverted to Red Alert more than two weeks ago, the country’s highest coronavirus warning indicator. That forced many companies to temporarily close amid a mandate to shut down all non-essential activities until at least Sunday. And yet the deputy health secretary traveled from Mexico City anyway.
A Mexican government source confirmed the photos’ authenticity. The Health Department did not respond to requests for comment, but López Gatell is expected to discuss the incident at a news conference Monday night at 8 p.m. EST.
The number of newly confirmed deaths and cases has been on a steady rise across the country since the beginning of October, with recent daily figures reaching the pandemic’s highest. More than 127,000 people have died from the virus.
When asked about Lopez Gatell’s travels, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said reporters should put those questions to the deputy secretary, but seemed to warrant the trip.
“He has worked extremely hard, he is fulfilling his responsibilities,” said López Obrador. “It is good that there is such public scrutiny, but civil servants also have rights.”