reportage. on march 16, lawyer marco antonio del toro petitioned the federal courts to cease all but essential activities for a period of 30 to 40 days because of the coronavirus outbreak. the total of confirmed cases reached 82. the autonomous university of the state of morelos, (uaem) suspended classes for its 22,000 students. a diplomatic incident arose between the governments of mexico and el salvador, concerning 12 salvadorean citizens wearing face masks on a plane departing from mexico city to san salvador. nayib bukele, president of el salvador denounced as "irresponsible" that they were allowed to board the plane along with other passengers and offered to send a plane to transport them without contact with other people. the claim was supported by avianca airline while the mexican government said that there were no reasons to assume that they were positive for covid-19. eventually, the flight was cancelled. marcelo ebrard, head of foreign affairs announced after negative results of covid tests of that salvadorean passengers. on march 17, 11 new cases were confirmed, raising the national total to 93, with campeche being the only state with no confirmed cases. mexico's limited response, including allowing a large concert and the women's soccer championship, as well as a lack of testing, have been criticized. critics note that president lópez obrador does not practice social distancing but continues to greet large crowds, and the borders have not been closed. of particular concern is the health of thousands of migrants in temporary camps along the border with the united states. the former national commissioner for influenza in mexico during the 2009 flu pandemic, alejandro macías, said the problem is compounded by the fact that mexico lacks sufficient intensive care unit beds, medical care workers and ventilators. on march 18, 25 more cases were confirmed raising the total to 118 cases and 314 suspected cases. authorities in jalisco are concerned about a group of 400 people who recently returned from vail, colorado; 40 people have symptoms of covid-19. the same day, the mexican government announced that they will allocate 3.5 billion pesos (approx. 146 million us dollars) to buy medical and laboratory equipment, washing and disinfection material, and ventilators. during the night the first covid-19 related death in the country was confirmed, a 41-year-old man without a travel history outside the country who was hospitalized at the national institute of respiratory diseases (iner). colima governor josé ignacio peralta declared a state of emergency after the state's first case, a man who had recently returned from germany, was reported on march 17. ford, honda, and audi closed their manufacturing plants in mexico. hundreds of hotel employees in cancún were fired. authorities announced on march 18 that they were looking for hundreds of citizens who may be carriers of the coronavirus, especially in the states of puebla, jalisco, aguascalientes, and guerrero. a four-member family in puebla who had traveled to the united states kept their symptoms secret as they visited neighbors in la vista and visited a gym. authorities were still trying to track down the 400 people in jalisco and nayarit who recently traveled to vail, colorado. in aguascalientes they were looking to track down passengers of flight 2638 who traveled with a sick man from new york. the autonomous university of guerrero (uagro) in chilpancingo closed after a female student tested positive for the virus. the technical institute of guerrero and the state supreme court also closed. morelos had its first two confirmed cases on march 19—a 54-year-old woman from cuautla and a 37-year-old man from cuernavaca. sinaloa announced its third case, a 20-year-old woman from culiacán. u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo announced on march 20 there would be restrictions on travel across the mexico–united states border. said restrictions would not apply to cargo. the national institute of anthropology and history (inah) announced that the archaeological zones teotihuacán, xochicalco, and el tepozteco will be closed on march 21–22. chichén itzá will close indefinitely starting march 21. guachimontones will close 21, 22, and march 23. palenque, tula and tingambato will close march 21. alsea, which operates restaurants such as starbucks, vips, and domino's pizza offered its employees unpaid leave. mayor juanita romero (pan) of nacozari de garcía municipality, sonora, declares a curfew, in effect until april 20. only the president of mexico has the legal authority to declare such a declaration. during the night, 38 more cases and one more death were confirmed raising the total to 203 cases, 2 deaths, and 606 suspected cases. on march 21 the total confirmed cases were 251. one day later 65 more cases were confirmed and the total of suspected cases grew to 793. on march 22, bars, nightclubs, movie theaters, and museums were closed in mexico city. governor enrique alfaro ramírez of jalisco announced that beginning thursday, march 26, jalisco and seven other states in the bajío and western mexico will block flights from areas such as california that have a high rate of coronavirus. he also said that they will purchase 25,000 testing kits. march 23 to 31 people entering a special respiratory illness symptom assessment area at the instituto nacional de ciencias médicas y nutrición salvador zubirán, mexico city. the hospital was converted into a special care area for covid patients. mexico entered phase 2 of the coronavirus pandemic on march 23, according to the world health organization, with 367 confirmed cases. phase 2 includes cases where the sick individuals did not have direct contact with someone who had recently been in another country. on the same day it was confirmed that two more people died from covid-19, raising the total to 4 reported deaths. that day was announced on president lópez obrador's daily press conference the realization of the national campaign of healthy distancing (jornada nacional de sana distancia) a national program of non-pharmaceutical measures based on social distancing among the behavioral changes suggested by who as hand washing, covering one's mouth when coughing, maintaining distance from other people, and monitoring and self-isolation for people who suspect they are infected. on that same day in the daily press conference was announced also a media campaign led by "susana distancia" ("susan distance", a wordplay with "su sana distancia/ your healthy distance") a fictional female superhero aiming to promote social distancing into the people. meanwhile, a mitofsky poll showed that 63% of mexicans feared contracting covid-19 and 25.5% feared dying from it. 28% said they were not willing to stay in their homes. 38.6% believed president lópez obrador was handling the situation well, and 37% disapproved. access to supermarkets in coahuila was limited to one person per family, and the temperature of that person was taken before entering. the same rule applies to drugstores and convenience stores in the state, which has 12 confirmed cases of covid-19. at his morning news conference on march 24, president lópez obrador announced that mexico entered phase 2 of the coronavirus pandemic, in effect until april 30. gatherings of more than 100 people are prohibited, and both the army and the navy will participate. the armed forces have 1,738 doctors, 1,727 nurses, 100 intensive therapy ambulances, and 400 ambulances for transportation. the military also has 5 high specialty hospitals, 36 second-level hospitals, and 272 first-level hospitals with 262 health brigades across the country. four deaths, 367 confirmed cases, and 826 suspected cases of covid-19 have been reported. the first mexican woman died from covid-19 on march 24, raising the total to 5 reported deaths in the country. on the same day 405 total cases of covid-19 were confirmed. on march 25, dr. abelardo ávila, researcher at the salvador zubirán national institute of health sciences and nutrition warned that mexico was particularly vulnerable to the covid-19 pandemic because of underlying chronic illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. also on march 25 president lópez obrador ordered the mexican air force to rescue mexicans trapped in argentina. in baja california, profeco closed two businesses in tijuana for price-gouging. in mexico city, head of government claudia sheinbaum announced financial support for families and micro industries affected by the pandemic. she also announced that automobile verification would be suspended through april 19. movie theaters, bars, nightclubs, gyms, and other entertainment centers will remain closed. the same day it was reported that one man died from covid-19 in san luis potosí, raising the total to 6 reported deaths in mexico and 475 confirmed cases. governor miguel barbosa huerta (morena) claimed that only the wealthy were at risk, since the poor are immune to covid-19. on march 26, president lópez obrador revealed he asked the g20 to ensure that wealthy countries cannot take control of the world's medical supplies. he also called for assurances that borders would not be closed to commerce and that tariffs would not be unilaterally increased. lastly, he called for an end to racism and discrimination. the mexican government announced it would suspend most sectors' activities starting march 26 until april 19, with the exception of health and energy sectors, the oil industry; and public services such as water supply, waste management and public safety. protesters in sonora insisted that the government limit border crossings with the united states. chihuahua announced that "in the next few days" it will start to quarantine migrants who are returned to the ciudad juárez border crossing. about 65 migrants are deported from el paso, texas daily, about 5,200 this year. two more deaths were reported on this day; 585 cases were confirmed, and there were 2,156 suspected cases. human rights watch accused amlo of endangering lives by not providing accurate information about the pandemic. the government of san luis potosí reported the death of a 57-year-old man on march 26, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to nine. he had hypertension and diabetes. citizens of nogales, sonora, blocked border crossing from nogales, arizona, in order to prevent the entrance of individuals with the virus infection and to prevent shortages of food, bottled water, toilet paper and cleaning supplies in local stores. according to the secretary of health, a plurality of the 585 people infected in mexico, 70, are between 30 and 34 years old. people over 65 are second, followed by those 25 to 29 and 45 to 49. the states with the most incidents are mexico city (83), jalisco (64) and nuevo león (57). on march 27 the federal government bought 5,000 ventilators from china as the government prepares for phase 3 of the pandemic. the total confirmed cases rose to 717; twelve deaths were reported, and there were 2,475 suspected cases. profeco (office of the federal prosecutor for the consumer) said it will fine merchants who unfairly raise the prices on household goods. the governors of nuevo león, tamaulipas and coahuila asked the federal government to close the border with the united states. on march 28, governor omar fayad of hidalgo announced in a tweet that he tested positive for the virus and said that he was in self-quarantine. the roman catholic archdiocese of mexico said services should be held indoors with no more than twenty people present. they may cancel all holy week celebrations if things do not improve. in the evening the secretariat of health reported 131 new confirmed cases and four more deaths, raising the total to 848 confirmed cases and 16 deaths. governor cuauhtémoc blanco of morelos announced the seventh case and first death due to covid-19 in the state, a 37-year-old man who had recently traveled to the united states. san luis potosí suspended wakes and funerals; the dead should be taken directly from the hospital to the crematorium. tabasco governor adán augusto lópez hernández tested positive for covid-19 on march 29. two tunnels with disinfectant spray were installed in the subways system of escobedo, nuevo león. the government of yucatán threatens fines of $86,000 pesos and up to three years in prison for individuals who have tested positive for coronavirus and do not self-quarantine. the state of querétaro registered its first death from covid-19, a 56-year-old man. the same day 993 cases of covid-19 and 20 deaths from the disease were confirmed. between 27 and march 29, 566 mexicans were brought home from other countries: 62 from colombia, 53 from ecuador, 299 from peru, 28 from guatemala (via land), and 134 from cuba.