Story at a glance:
- At least 15 out of the 32 contestants in the Miss Mexico 2021 pageant tested positive for the coronavirus.
- A source says 10 contestants were showing symptoms on a trip to a school indigenous Tarahumara children.
- Officials are accusing pageant organizers of trying to cover up the outbreak.
A Mexican beauty pageant continued its show, even though there was a COVID-19 outbreak where almost half the contestants were infected, according to health officials who were tipped off from an anonymous call.
At least 15 out of the 32 contestants in the Miss Mexico 2021 pageant tested positive for the coronavirus, and a pageant staff member got sick as well. But that did not stop the show from going on, The Guardian reported.
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“Even though many [of the contestants] were coughing, had body aches and even a temperature, they asked them not to complain,” an anonymous source from the pageant told the newspaper Reforma, according to The Guardian.
At least 10 contestants, all of whom showed symptoms of COVID-19, went on a trip to hand out school supplies to Indigenous Tarahumara children who attend a school in the Copper Canyon.
Some of the models took selfies with the students.
The event, originally scheduled for July 3, was rescheduled for July 1 in Chihuahua. Organizers did not provide a comment to The Guardian.
National news of the pageant outbreak was made public on July 2, the day after the event, according to Border Report.
The winner of Miss Mexico 2021 was Miss Michoacán, Karolina Vidales.
Chihuahua health officials say organizers were uncooperative and attempted to cover up the outbreak, according to The Guardian. The health secretariat said an anonymous caller told the department about the outbreak.
“The state health secretariat regrets the lack of honesty and transparency from the organising committee,” the statement said.
According to Mexico News Daily, Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell has acknowledged Mexico is experiencing a third wave of surging COVID-19 cases after lowering its restrictions.
COVID-19 fatalities in Mexico have increased dramatically in June compared to May, with the Health Ministry reporting 9,479 deaths last month, a 42 percent spike. There was also a spike in confirmed case numbers, which increased 53 percent in June.
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