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In 2020, Mexico faced the new coronavirus disease declared as a public health emergency of international importance. In response, during the month of March the Ministry of Public Education and the Ministry of Health implemented a set of measures to prevent and contain the spread of the virus. The objectives are: first, to identify the actions implemented by the Mexican government, and to analyze its pedagogical, social and economic implications. A qualitative documentary exercise was carried out, it allowed the location, classification, selection, analysis and comparison of various documents. As a result, three priority actions and 20 primary care measures were identified for their implementation throughout the national territory. It was found that the closure of the schools revealed a set of challenges for the educational authorities, teachers and families, while the execution of these measures is configured in a network of educational, social and economic circumstances that deep in educational inequality. It is concluded that schools and teachers are key agents in health containment, however, the conditions of the schools and the socioeconomic characteristics of the communities define the experience of prevention and confinement.

Distance education; Health education; Public education; Health policy; Virus.