On March 24, the World Health Organization categorized the country of Mexico in phase 2 of 3 in the COVID-19, or coronavirus, pandemic, changing everything for its residents.  

Up until this week many Ciudad Juárez residents have not taken the coronavirus seriously, posting memes on social media about the situation and continuing to go out.  

 I don’t think most understand the gravity of the situation and what is happening throughout the world.  

I think that one of the reasons people are not staying at home is because there are not many cases confirmed in the state or Juárez. According to the official page of COVID–19 from the state of Chihuahua, there are only four cases confirmed in Ciudad Juarez and two in the city of Chihuahua, making a total of six cases confirmed in the whole state. 

Even though there are not a lot of cases, Governor of Chihuahua Javier Corral tightened sanitary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The governor asked to suspend all activities as weddings, close churches and any place that can give place to big group meetings.  

I understand that not everybody in Mexico can afford to work from home, as many Mexicans must live day by day. For those people who can be in quarantine, however, who can work from home and not go out for some time, should do it in order to lessen the amount of people that are outside. 

There is another thing that everyone can do if you are in quarantine, which is staying healthy both physically and mentally. Wash your hands constantly and boost your immune system. Take care of your mental health.  

It’s important to take care of what you are eating, what type of news you are reading, think carefully about what you share on social media. Think whether you are generating fear for your family or if you are calm and being conscientious.  

I invite people to stay at home if they have the privilege to do so. Do not ignore the situation. Help others if you can and stay positive, even though we are not in the greatest of situations.  

I know that not everybody is happy staying at home, but if we obey what authorities are saying, the faster this nightmare is going to end, and things will go back to normal.  

Maria Salette Ontiveros may be reached at [email protected]