The government of Tamaulipas has called on residents to redouble efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus as some hospitals reach critical occupancy levels due to the growing number of new infections.
The state Health Ministry reported Monday that it had registered 319 new cases in the preceding 24 hours and 16 additional Covid-19 deaths.
Tamaulipas has now recorded 15,249 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic and 931 Covid-19 fatalities, according to state government data.
The municipalities with the highest number of cases in the northern border state are Reynosa, Tampico, Matamoros, Altamira, Victoria, Valle Hermoso, San Fernando, Río Bravo, El Mante, Soto La Marina, Aldama, Hidalgo and Xicoténcatl.
Tamaulipas Health Minister Gloria Marina Gamboa said Sunday that three IMSS hospitals and four ISSSTE hospitals are completely full due to a spike in admissions of coronavirus patients.
The three IMSS hospitals that have reached capacity are in Ciudad Victoria, Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros, while the four saturated ISSSTE hospitals are in Tampico, Reynosa, Matamoros and Ciudad Mante.
Gamboa urged citizens to continue staying at home and to “step up” other preventative measures to limit the spread of Covid-19 in Tamaulipas, one of 18 “red light” maximum risk states, according to the federal government’s “stoplight” map that denotes the infection risk level on a state by state basis.
“Tamaulipas is still suffering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Cases aren’t decreasing, the [epidemic] curve hasn’t flattened and unfortunately deaths are still occurring,” she said.
“Given that we’re close to saturating the hospital system, I once again call on the population to step up the preventative measures to avoid exposing yourself to infection. The most important thing is to decrease transmission of the virus. Look after yourself and your family.”
On the other side of the country, authorities in Baja California continue to grapple with the coronavirus and calls for a wider reopening of the economy.
The federal government switched the northern border state from red to orange on its most recent “stoplight” map but the state government didn’t agree with the change, stating that it was not possible to ease restrictions due to high case numbers and Baja California’s proximity to the United States, where new coronavirus infections have surged in recent weeks.
The decision to keep strict coronavirus restrictions in place angered hundreds of owners of nonessential businesses such as bars, reported the news outlet Telemundo.
Governor Jaime Bonilla said authorities would reexamine case numbers in Baja California and consult with the federal government in order to determine where restrictions could be eased.
However, he dismissed calls for bars to be allowed to reopen, asserting that permitting them to welcome back customers could lead to a situation in which the spread of the coronavirus could not be controlled.
Baja California Health Minister Alonso Pérez Rico said authorities will in fact seek to reduce citizens’ mobility because case numbers are on the rise in Tijuana and Ensenada, creating a “dangerous situation.”
Baja California has recorded 13,051 confirmed coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic and 2,538 Covid-19 deaths, according to state government data. Health authorities said Monday that fatalities are continuing to occur at an average of 18 per day.
Meanwhile, the federal Health Ministry reported Monday that new case numbers have spiked in Colima and Jalisco in recent weeks.
Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía told reporters at Monday night’s coronavirus press briefing that new infections in Colima began to trend upwards in epidemiological week 23, which ran from May 31 to June 6.
Between weeks 28 and 29 – July 5 to 18 – case numbers spiked 36%, causing the state’s epidemic curve to become “practically vertical,” he said.
Colima has recorded 1,605 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic – fewer than any other state in the country – but the Health Ministry estimates that a high percentage of those cases – 30% – are currently active.
Manzanillo has the highest case tally among Colima’s 10 municipalities, with 674 as of Monday.
In Jalisco, new case numbers declined between epidemiological weeks 24 and 26 – June 7 to 27 – after reaching a “first peak” in week 23, Alomía said. However, new infections began to trend upwards again from week 27, or June 28, he said.
New cases “are on the rise,” Alomía said, explaining that they increased 6% in week 29 – July 12 to 18 – compared to the previous week.
Jalisco has recorded a total of 27,711 confirmed cases, according to state government data, but federal authorities have only registered 12,235 because they don’t accept results from private clinics or rapid Covid-19 tests.
Six municipalities in Jalisco have recorded more than 1,000 cases, according to state data, five of which are in the Guadalajara metropolitan area.
They are Guadalajara, 9,838 cases; Zapopan, 5,250; Tlaquepaque, 2,336; Puerto Vallarta, 1,743; Tlajomulco, 1,712; and Tonalá, 1,556.
Alomía also reported that new case numbers in Nayarit declined by less than 1% in epidemiological week 29 after increasing during numerous consecutive weeks.
He said that 17% of cases in the Pacific coast state – which has recorded 3,219 confirmed cases – are estimated to be active, meaning that the local epidemic continues to show “good activity.”
About half of all confirmed cases in Nayarit were detected in state capital Tepic.
At the start of Monday night’s press briefing, Alomía reported that Mexico’s coronavirus case tally had increased to 395,489 with 4,973 new cases registered. Confirmed case numbers declined in epidemiological weeks 28 and 29, data shows.
About 7.5% of confirmed cases – 30,108 – are currently active, according to federal data, while there are 85,986 suspected cases across the country.
Alomía reported that Mexico’s Covid-19 death toll increased to 44,022 on Monday with 342 additional fatalities reported.
National data showed that 47% of general care hospital beds set aside for coronavirus patients are currently occupied while 38% of those with ventilators are in use.
Source: La Jornada (sp), Milenio (sp), Reforma (sp), Telemundo 20 (sp), El Universal (sp)
