The Latest: Mexico mourns doctors on Day of the Dead

The Latest: Mexico mourns doctors on Day of the DeadDiminutive figures skeletons in facemasks and medical caps are all too common on Mexico’s Day of the Dead altars this year

By The Associated Press

November 1, 2020, 11:30 PM

• 13 min read

A man wearing face mask protection against COVID-19, walks next to graves decorated with flowers in tribute of deceased relatives at the cemetery during All Saints Day, a Catholic holiday to reflect on the saints and deceased relatives, in Barcelona, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020, while Spain suffer a second strong pandemic crisis by Coronavirus. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

MEXICO CITY —- Diminutive figures skeletons in facemasks and medical caps are all too common on Mexico’s Day of the Dead altars this year.

More than 1,700 Mexican health workers are officially known to have died of COVID-19 and they’re being honored with three days of national mourning on these Days of the Dead.

One is Dr. Jose Luis Linares, who attended to patients at a private clinic in a poor neighborhood in Mexico City, usually charging about 30 pesos (roughly $1.50) a consultation.

“I told him, ‘Luis, don’t go to work.’ But he told me, ‘then who is going to see those poor people,’” said his widow, Dr. María del Rosario Martínez. She said he had taken precautions against the disease because of lungs damaged by an earlier illness.

Her Day of the Dead altar this year inlcudes — in addition to the usual marigolds and paper cutouts — little skeleton figures shown doing consultations or surgeries in honor of colleagues who have died.

Amnesty International said last month that Mexico had lost more medical professionals to the coronavirus than any other nation.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— UK says 4-week coronvirus lockdown may have to last longer

— Pre-election virus spike creates concern for polling places

— Minority contact tracers build trust in diverse cities

— A company with no manufacturing facilities that is based in a luxury condo may be in line for as much as $65 million in taxpayer dollars for antiviral plasma treatments.

— The Netherlands will halt its multibillion euro coronavirus bailout to national carrier KLM amid a standoff with a pilot’s union about the rescue package.

— Austria has announced a partial shutdown with restaurants and bars closed for four weeks, cultural, sports and leisure activities canceled and residents asked to stay home after 8 p.m.

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Follow AP’s coronavirus pandemic coverage at and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

WASHINGTON — Dr. Scott Atlas, one of President Donald Trump’s science advisers, is apologizing after appearing on the Russian state-funded TV channel RT to criticize lockdown measures aimed at stemming the coronavirus.

In a tweet Sunday, Atlas wrote he was unaware that RT was a registered foreign agent. He said he regretted the interview and apologized, particularly to the national security community, “for allowing myself to be taken advantage of.”

Atlas told RT over the weekend that he considered the COVID-19 pandemic to be mostly under control and that it was actually lockdowns that are “killing people.”

RT is registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which applies to people or companies disseminating information in the U.S. on behalf of foreign governments, political parties and other “foreign principals.”

U.S. intelligence agencies have alleged RT served as a propaganda outlet for the Kremlin as part of a multi-pronged effort to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Russia denies interfering.

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PORTLAND, Maine — Maine is reinstating restrictions meant to curb the spread of COVID-19 amid a resurgence of the virus, Gov. Janet Mills said Sunday.