A new single-day record of 5,662 confirmed Covid-19 cases were added to Mexico’s tally on Thursday, while 667 additional fatalities were reported, lifting the death toll to close to 20,000.
The Health Ministry reported that the cumulative case tally had increased to 165,455 and that confirmed Covid-19 deaths had risen to 19,747.
An additional 1,868 fatalities are suspected of being caused by Covid-19 but have not yet been confirmed.
About a quarter of Covid-19 patients who have died did not have an identified underlying health condition that made them more vulnerable to the disease, Health Ministry data shows.
There are currently 23,528 active coronavirus cases across the country while the results of 59,778 tests are not yet known. Just under 453,500 people have been tested for Covid-19, and three-quarters of those who tested positive have now fully recovered.
Mexico City continues to lead the country for accumulated coronavirus cases, active cases and deaths while México state ranks second in all three categories.
Just over 40,000 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the capital since the start of the pandemic, with 10% of confirmed cases – 4,141 – currently active. Mexico City’s official coronavirus death toll is 5,184.
After Mexico City and México state, Puebla and Tabasco have the largest active coronavirus outbreaks. Just over 1,000 of Puebla’s 1,340 active cases are in the state capital, which has a larger active outbreak than any other municipality in Mexico.
At the municipal level, the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa has the second biggest active outbreak followed by León, Guanajuato, and Centro (Villahermosa), Tabasco.
In addition to Mexico City, three states have recorded more than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths: México state, with 2,343; Baja California, with 1,638; and Veracruz, with 1,160. Seven others – Sinaloa, Puebla, Tabasco, Guerrero, Chihuahua, Hidalgo and Quintana Roo – have recorded 500 or more.
Mexico’s biggest success story of the pandemic is Colima, which has the lowest coronavirus case tally and death toll in the country. The small Pacific coast state has recorded just 339 cases, 89 of which are currently active, and 42 deaths.
Zacatecas is the only other state to have recorded fewer than 1,000 cases while four others – Baja California Sur, Zacatecas, Durango and Aguascalientes – have death tolls below 100.
National data presented at the Health Ministry’s coronavirus press briefing on Thursday night showed that 46% of general care beds set aside for patients with serious coronavirus symptoms are currently occupied while 39% of those with ventilators are in use. However, hospital occupancy levels are significantly higher in Mexico City and México state.
At Friday night’s press briefing, the Health Ministry will present a new “stoplight” map indicating the risk of coronavirus infection in each of Mexico’s 32 states.
Exactly half of the states are currently at the “red light” risk level while the other half were allocated an “orange light” last Friday that allowed them to ease restrictions this week. The new risk levels for each state will take effect on Monday.
Source: La Jornada (sp), Milenio (sp)
