After a plenary session, the Yucatan State Congress passed a law that punishes anyone who assaults health personnel. Convictions will be followed with a 26,000-peso fine and up to 5 years behind bars.
Nurses and other health workers have complained of being shunned and even attacked in public by people afraid they are spreading coronavirus.
One nurse made national news when an irate citizen threw coffee at him. Another was banished from a public bus for wearing hospital scrubs.
“The lady, who looked like a decent lady, yelled at me that I am contaminating the planet, that I have COVID-19 disease, insulted me with bad word,” said Gilberto Paullada, who had just ended his shift at Centro de Especialidades Médicas del Sureste on Calle 60 and 35, and was heading home.
The state government also agreed to send legislators a digital file containing the identities of those receiving unemployment benefits. Lawmakers want to oversee the implementation of the rescue program after numerous complaints of fraudulent jobless claims.
