Mexico recorded its biggest single-day increase to both its coronavirus case tally and death toll on Thursday, lifting the former to almost 30,000 and the latter to just under 3,000.
The federal Health Ministry reported 1,982 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, taking the total number of accumulated cases since the disease was first detected at the end of February to 29,616. It also reported 257 additional fatalities, lifting the death toll to 2,961.
Mexico’s coronavirus fatality rate is now in double figures for the first time at 10 per 1,000 confirmed cases.
A total of 10,392 additional confirmed cases were added to Mexico’s tally in the first week of May, 37% more than in the final seven days of April. Health authorities reported 1,102 coronavirus-related deaths in the first week of this month, 39% more than the 790 fatalities recorded in the last week of April.
Health Ministry Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía said Thursday night that Mexico’s epidemic curve continues to maintain a “clear upward trend,” contradicting Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell’s assertion on Tuesday that the curve is flattening.
Alomía told reporters at the nightly coronavirus press briefing that 7,802 of the almost 30,000 confirmed cases are considered to be active. He also said that there are 18,812 suspected Covid-19 cases across the country and that 117,211 people have now been tested for the disease.
Mexico City has the highest number of accumulated and active coronavirus cases, with 8,129 of the former and 2,051 of the latter. México state ranks second in both categories, with 5,077 accumulated cases and 1,203 active ones, according to Health Ministry data.
Eight states have more than 200 active cases: Veracruz (329); Tabasco (329); Baja California (309); Yucatán (296); Morelos (293); Puebla (264); Sinaloa (259); and Nuevo León (229). Active cases have surged in Nuevo León this month, increasing by 144% from 94 on May 1.
At the municipal level, Iztapalapa in Mexico City continues to lead the country for active cases, with 503. Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City, is second followed by Centro (Villahermosa), Tabasco; Culiacán, Sinaloa; and Nezahualcóyotl, México state.
Mexico City has also recorded the highest number of coronavirus-related deaths, with 696 fatalities as of Thursday, according to Health Ministry figures.
However, The New York Times reported on Friday that the federal government is not reporting hundreds or possibly thousands of Covid-19 deaths in the capital. It said that Mexico City officials have counted more than three times the number of fatalities than the federal government has publicly acknowledged.
The Times reported that Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum began to suspect that federal data was flawed a month ago but has not spoken out publicly because she doesn’t want to embarrass President López Obrador, her close political ally.
Two former federal health ministers, José Narro Robles and José Ángel Córdova Villalobos, publicly expressed doubt this week about the government’s coronavirus statistics and modeling, with the latter asserting that the figures are “almost irrelevant.”
According to official figures, Baja California has the second highest death toll in Mexico, with 344 fatalities.
Six other states have recorded more than 100 coronavirus-related deaths: México state (275); Sinaloa (197); Tabasco (188); Quintana Roo (168); Puebla (124); and Chihuahua (117).
At the municipal level, Tijuana, Baja California, has the highest death toll, with 243 fatalities, followed by Culiacán, Sinaloa (139); Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City (135); Benito Juárez (Cancún), Quintana Roo (131); and Iztapalapa, Mexico City (110).
Among the almost 3,000 people confirmed to have lost their lives to Covid-19, 503 did not have an identified existing health problem that made them more vulnerable to the disease nor were they aged over 65.
Five foreigners have died of Covid-19 in Mexico, according to Health Ministry data – one person from each of Cuba, Greece, Canada, Chile and El Salvador.
Source: Milenio (sp)
