Life is a beach.
The health official leading the COVID-19 response from Mexico was caught on a masked vacation by the sea, ignoring his own advice to “stay home” during the pandemic.
Dr. Hugo López-Gatell, deputy health secretary, was caught in photos relaxing at a beach resort in southern Oaxaca, about 500 miles from his home in Mexico City, the Los Angeles Times reported.
He was seen in an outdoor photo at a waterfront bar with a woman – none wearing a mask.
In the second photo, he was caught talking on a cell phone with a mask hanging under his chin – while on a crowded flight from Mexico City.
López-Gatell flew to the beach destination on New Year’s Eve – taking a break from his nightly press conferences where he offers updates on the pandemic and often urges residents to “stay home,” the LA Times reported.
Critics have hit his trip as the country faces one of the highest coronavirus death rates.
“He is traveling in the worst of the pandemic,” political writer Denise Dresser wrote on Twitter, the LA Times reported.
“It’s far from where it should be: together with the medical staff, implementing the vaccination campaign, setting an example.”
López-Gatell defended his trip on Monday, saying he had “nothing to hide”.
“I went to visit very close relatives, very good friends and I was in a private house in the days at the end of the year,” he told Mexico Daily News.
He also admitted to visiting the restaurant, where he was photographed without a mask – but stressed that he does not defy any rules there, as the cases are smaller than other regions.
He went on to say that some of the criticisms of his trip were politically motivated.
“In the electoral context, it is clear that different political forces want to benefit, they want to create demons and create enemies in order to position themselves,” he said, the press reported.