The Covid-19 pandemic has challenged governments and institutions and uncovered structural problems in all countries of the world. It is clear that its impact and consequences will be long-lasting, and more so in those countries, like Mexico, that were especially reckless in their response and who were slow to modify their initial policies despite the evidence. The effects will be felt for many years to come since the crisis has impacted life trajectories for millions of households. Thus, a consideration of the future of the economy needs first to address those public policies implemented to meet the Covid crisis.

In Mexico, the pandemic has been a human, social and economic tragedy. Like in the rest of the world, the crisis forced extreme actions and policies on many fronts. In Mexico, unfortunately, the government’s reaction was slow, insufficient and ineffective. The government’s first response to the Covid-19 pandemic was to downplay it, which meant a lack of preparation on behalf of the population and of the health institutions, in spite of the fact that the first case arrived in Mexico at the end of February 2020. Not surprisingly, the first victims were healthcare workers, who did not have either the appropriate personal protection equipment, or the medical preparation to treat the incoming patients. Mexico’s death rate of healthcare personnel became one of the highest of the world. By June 2020 their reported death rate was 2.6 per cent out of the total deaths in Mexico, more than double than Brazil, triple than Peru and five times more than China or the UK at that time (IGHS 2021).

In spite of much rhetoric, the government did not employ its full institutional capabilities to confront the crisis. The Sanitary National Commission, the body legally responsible, was sidelined and the government’s efforts were determined by the undersecretary Hugo Lopez-Gatell (Chertorivsky et al. 2020). As a result, many of the health measures were improvised and poorly designed owing to the lack of budgetary support, or the necessary policies for effective coordination between federal government entities and those of state governments.