Mexico medical staff protest shortages

Doctors and nurses in public hospitals, concerned over the rising numbers of health professionals infected with the new coronavirus, continued to protest on Tuesday, demanding protective supplies.

Protesters blocked the entrance of the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers in Mexico City, holding banners.

They chanted "not one more, give us the materials," as some held signs with pictures of doctors who lost their lives after becoming infected.

Mexico's undersecretary of health Hugo López-Gatell meanwhile announced the beginning of the third phase of containment of the epidemic clarifying that there will be no additional measures restricting citizens' mobility.

Since the start of the pandemic in Mexico, health officials have said the third phase would begin when contagion was counted in the thousands.

As of Monday night, there were 8,772 infected and at least 712 dead.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.