Virus prompts alert of Mexico City's emergency room

The emergency room for Mexico City's command centre remained dormant until 2020, when the new coronavirus pandemic urged authorities to reopen it.

City officials, Mexican Army and the Red Cross staff the centre, known as C5, to optimize the flow of patients into the different hospitals available to tend for COVID-19 patients.

The C5 monitors hospital capacities in real-time to regulate the distribution of ambulances to avoid patients wandering between crowded hospitals that can't offer medical attention.

Citizens with COVID-19 symptoms can call the emergency number or through the CDMX app where doctors offer guidance on the necessary care.

The manager in command of the control centre, Juan Manuel Garcia, said the emergency is unique, with new challenges not even faced under previous emergencies such as the 2017 earthquakes that rocked central Mexico.

As Mexico moves toward a gradual easing of restrictions, the number of new coronavirus infections grows higher every day, raising fears of a new wave of infections that other countries have seen after loosening restrictions.

There were 2,437 new coronavirus test confirmations Friday, the highest daily total yet and the second straight day with over 2,000 new cases.

The numbers suggest the pandemic has not yet peaked in Mexico, while the daily number of deaths rose by 290, below the one-day peak of 353 deaths reported by authorities last Tuesday.

Mexico has reported more than 45,000 COVID-19 cases and a total of 4,767 deaths so far.