Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have increased in Mexico in recent weeks, and the positivity rate for the infectious disease is on the rise as well.
Data published by the federal Health Ministry shows that the number of confirmed COVID cases increased every week between May 26 and June 29.
There was a week-over-week decline in confirmed cases between June 30 and July 6, but the number could later be revised upward.
While confirmed COVID-19 infections have recently been on the rise, case numbers remain quite low, especially when compared with figures from 2020 and 2021.
Between 100 and 200 confirmed cases were reported every week between early May and late June, before the number rose above 200 in the final week of last month. Case numbers were significantly higher earlier in 2024, peaking at above 700 in Epidemiological Week 6, which ran from Feb. 4 to 10.
Meanwhile, the COVID positivity rate — the percentage of people who tested positive for the disease — rose during seven consecutive weeks to reach 28% between June 30 and July 6. That’s the highest positivity rate recorded so far this year.
According to the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the positivity rate “is a critical measure because it gives us an indication how widespread infection is in the area where the testing is occurring — and whether levels of testing are keeping up with levels of disease transmission.”
“A high percent positive means that more testing should probably be done – and it suggests that it is not a good time to relax restrictions aimed at reducing coronavirus transmission,” it adds.
More than 8,000 confirmed COVID cases so far this year
The Health Ministry said that 8,075 confirmed cases of COVID were recorded between Jan. 1 and July 6, a 44% decrease compared to the same period of last year.
There have been 375 deaths associated with COVID this year, the ministry said.
Mexico has recorded more than 330,000 COVID-related deaths, the fifth highest total in the world. Its per-capita mortality rate is the 32nd highest in the world, according to John Hopkins University, with 261 deaths per 100,000 people.
Mexico News Daily
