After Bankers’ Party in Acapulco, a Coronavirus Case Emerges
After Bankers’ Party in Acapulco, a Coronavirus Case Emerges
(Bloomberg) -- Mexico’s top bankers are on high alert as a central bank official tested positive for Covid 19 after attending a conference last week in the beach resort of Acapulco.
Banxico said in a statement that an employee had tested positive for the virus but that no board member has presented symptoms. A bank spokesperson declined to confirm if the person had been at the conference, saying it was a private matter.
Two people identified the employee who had tested positive, including one from the central bank. Three people, two who had been with the official at the conference, said he had attended. The employee, contacted by Bloomberg, declined to say whether he had tested positive or whether he had been to Acapulco.
Hundreds of Mexican financial executives including bank CEOs, flew to the Pacific resort last week for an annual meeting even as major events around the world were canceled. Mexico’s central bank Governor Alejandro Diaz de Leon participated, as did Finance Minister Arturo Herrera and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
While sanitizer gel was widely used, most participants threw out caution regarding greetings. Warm handshakes and embraces were common. At a poolside cocktail event on Thursday night, bankers drank tequila and partied into the early hours in close proximity to one another.
Contagion Risk
Half a dozen participants at the convention said it had been irresponsible not to have canceled the meetings. They asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the event. Most were working from home office following the convention and said they had been concerned the event could have been a hotbed of contagion.
Luis Nino de Rivera, head of Mexico’s banking association, had shrugged off concerns about the gathering when questioned by Bloomberg on Thursday, saying that the authorities had allowed the meetings to proceed. The banking association declined to comment on Tuesday about whether the employee had attended the event or if they had taken any measures.
Government bank Bansefi ordered its staff who had attended the conference to work from home, daily El Universal reported.
Last week, Mexican stock exchange chairman Jaime Ruiz Sacristan was confirmed as the first high profile Covid-19 case in Mexico, fanning worries among Mexico’s financial community.
Lopez Obrador has drawn fire for continuing to attend public events. Over the weekend after attending the banking conference he waded into crowds at a rally, kissing children and women.
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