Evaluating the indigenous response to COVID-19 in rural Oaxaca, Mexico

[...]rural indigenous communities throughout Oaxaca were largely unaffected in the early days of the pandemic. According to the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), Mexico’s premier entity for the promotion of scientific and technological advances, and its tracking site [5], official rates of infection through mid-May 2020 remained low, especially in Oaxaca, with most indigenous communities registering no or very few cases until July 2020. To prepare for the next pandemic, we must build upon the experience of these communities to develop public health programming and opportunities in anticipation of a more effective response. 1 Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA 2 Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA 3 National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology Branch, Division of Intramural Research, National Institutes of Health, RTP, North Carolina, USA