The federal Health Ministry reported a new daily high of 424 Covid-19 fatalities on Wednesday, pushing Mexico’s coronavirus death toll past 6,000.
Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía said that there have now been 6,090 confirmed Covid-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic. Yesterday’s daily death toll is 20% higher than the previous record of 353 reported on Tuesday last week.
Alomía said that an additional 726 fatalities are suspected of having been caused by Covid-19 but have not yet been confirmed.
He also reported 2,248 new confirmed cases of the disease, lifting Mexico’s cumulative case tally to 56,594. The Health Ministry has reported more than 2,000 new cases on each of the past seven days.
Of the total number of confirmed cases, 12,085 are considered active, Alomía said. There are also 31,866 suspected cases across the country, while 193,589 people have now been tested.
National data presented at Wednesday night’s coronavirus press briefing showed that 39% of general care hospital beds set aside for patients with serious respiratory symptoms are occupied while 32% of those with ventilators are in use.
Occupancy levels are much higher in Mexico City, where 72% of general care beds and 60% of beds with ventilators are in use.
The capital, Mexico’s coronavirus epicenter, has now recorded almost 16,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,618 deaths. However, a recent analysis of death certificates issued in Mexico City between March 18 and May 12 found that more than 4,500 deaths were likely caused by Covid-19.
One month has now passed since the government declared the commencement of phase three of the pandemic, a period in which the Health Ministry reported 47,822 new cases, 84% of the total number, and 5,378 deaths, 88% of all confirmed coronavirus-related fatalities.
Despite the worsening pandemic, the national social distancing initiative will conclude on May 30, paving the way for a gradual return to a “new normal” from June 1 on.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell stressed last night that the initiative is not yet over and urged people to continue to stay at home.
Compliance with the social distancing recommendations will allow Mexico to reach the “new normal” more quickly, he said.
López-Gatell highlighted that Cancún, Culiacán and Tijuana are among the cities where new Covid-19 cases are declining but noted that the epidemic curve is still on the rise in Acapulco.
In contrast to Cancún, where the tourism sector is expected to be given the green light to recommence activities between June 8 and 10, there is no reopening in sight for hotels and other tourism-oriented businesses in Acapulco, he said.
“The critical time [of the epidemic] is still a long way off” in the Pacific coast resort city, López-Gatell said.
Guerrero has recorded 927 Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, 519 of which were detected in Acapulco, according to official data.
Source: El Universal (sp)
