The Health Ministry reported more than 1,000 additional Covid-19 deaths on Sunday while Mexico’s tally of confirmed cases rose by more than 5,000. It was only the second time that reported deaths have exceeded 1,000 in a single day.
Director of Epidemiology Jose Luis Alomía reported 1,044 additional fatalities, increasing the death toll to 21,825, and 5,343 new cases, lifting the case tally to 180,545.
Both the number of deaths and cases reported were the second highest since the beginning of the pandemic.
Alomía reiterated that not all of the deaths occurred in the previous 24 hours, presenting a graph that showed that many of the fatalities registered on Sunday occurred in May and the first half of June.
In addition to the 21,825 confirmed Covid-19 deaths, 1,892 fatalities are suspected of having been caused by the disease.
Of the more than 180,000 confirmed cases, 24,225 are considered active. There are also 56,590 suspected cases, while 479,528 people have now been tested.
Mexico City leads the country for accumulated coronavirus cases, active cases and deaths, while México state ranks second in all three categories.
The capital has recorded almost 42,500 Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, of which 4,284 are currently active. Mexico City’s official death toll is 5,451 but the real number of people who have died from Covid-19 is widely believed to be much higher.
México state has recorded just over 28,500 confirmed cases, of which 2,423 are currently active. It has also recorded 3,092 Covid-19 deaths. The most affected México state municipalities are located in the Valley of México metropolitan area, the country’s coronavirus epicenter.
Tabasco, Veracruz and Baja California rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively, for accumulated cases. The first two states have recorded more than 8,000 cases while Baja California’s tally is just below 7,800.
Apart from Mexico City and México state, six states currently have more than 1,000 active cases: Puebla, Guanajuato, Tabasco, Veracruz, Nuevo León and Jalisco.
Baja California has the third highest Covid-19 death toll in the country, with 1,741 confirmed fatalities. With more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths each, Veracruz and Sinaloa rank fourth and fifth, respectively.
Based on confirmed cases and deaths, Mexico’s coronavirus fatality rate is 12 per 100 cases, a figure well above the global rate of 5.2.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said that 65% of those who have died were men aged over 50.
“It’s probable that a significant proportion of them were fathers who were unable to be with their families [on Father’s Day] this year,” he said.
“Losing a father, like losing a mother or any family member is something that is extremely dramatic and, of course, … it’s painful. I understand this perfectly because I lost my father 21 years ago on Father’s Day. That’s why I want to express my condolences to all the families that have lost a father during … the pandemic,” López-Gatell said.
Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp)
