<p>MEXICO CITY — More than three months after COVID-19 infections peaked in Mexico City, the local government announced Friday that the public hospital network dedicated to fighting the disease is experiencing its lowest rate occupancy of the pandemic.</p>
<p>One year after the country instituted a color-coded alert system for the pandemic, the capital for the first time moved from orange to yellow, another step down from the top category, red.</p>
<p>City officials placed occupancy rate in public hospitals dedicated to COVID-19 care at 16%, a welcome change from January, when a surge following the holiday season pushed some hospitals to their limits.</p>
<p>Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said there was no scientific certainty to say why Mexico City finds it in much better place, but she listed a half dozen possible factors including greater discipline by citizens, expanded testing, a vaccination campaign, improved weather and the fact that many people in the city have already been infected.</p>
<p>Sheinbaum said 84% of the capital’s senior citizens have been vaccinated and the campaign recently moved to the 50 to 59 age group.</p>
<p>The practical changes in the lowering of the alert level are minimal. Among them, the limits on capacity at businesses and movie theaters will increase somewhat, but remain below 50%.</p>
<p>There have been more than 42,000 test-confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the city of 9 million, though due to the limited availability of testing the real number is believed to be much higher.</p>
