Mexico’s Health Secretary, Jorge Varela, has labeled the steel industry as one of several “essential areas” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to a decree published this week at the nation’s official gazette, Diario Oficial Federal (DOF), the “steel, cement and glass producing companies will maintain minimum activity to avoid irreversible effects to their production,” the document said.
However, Mexican steelmakers need to inform the country’s economy secretariat, SE, the total number of workers they consider “indispensable.” Despite not having announced a country-wide quarantine or official lockdown, Mexican cities and states have established their own policies to fight the pandemic.
Recently, the Mexican government urged citizens to stay at home, but it did not impose any mandatory restriction. Mexico City is one of several cities to adopt a lockdown.