Mexico recorded a new daily record for Covid-19 deaths for the second time in three days on Friday with 479 additional fatalities.
The official coronavirus death toll now stands at 6,989 just over two months after the first Covid-19 fatality was recorded in the country.
The death toll reported on Friday is 13% higher than the previous high of 424 on Wednesday. More than 1,300 new Covid-19 fatalities were reported in the past three days.
Health Ministry Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía told a press conference Friday night that an additional 814 fatalities are suspected to have been caused by Covid-19 but have not yet been confirmed.
He reported that the number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus in Mexico since the start of the pandemic had risen to 62,527, an increase of 2,960 compared to Thursday.
The single-day increase in cases is the second highest since Covid-19 was first detected in Mexico at the end of February. The daily record was set a day earlier on Thursday with 2,973 new cases reported.
Alomía said that 13,347 of the confirmed cases are considered active, an increase of 442 compared to Thursday. He also said that there are 33,801 suspected cases across the country and that a total of 210,070 people have now been tested.
Alomía said that there are currently more than 413,000 testing kits available in Mexico after a shipment of 300,000 arrived from China last weekend.
Mexico City continues to lead the country for accumulated Covid-19 cases, active cases and deaths. The capital has recorded 17,690 cases since the start of the pandemic of which 3,495 – about one in five – are active.
There have been 1,854 confirmed Covid-19 deaths in Mexico City although media reports have claimed that fatalities in the capital are being drastically underreported.
México state has the second largest active coronavirus outbreak, with 1,437 cases. Tabasco, Veracruz and Baja California rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively, for the size of their active outbreaks. Each of the three states has more than 500 active cases.
Colima is the only state in the country with fewer than 50 active cases while three – Zacatecas, Durango and Baja California Sur – have between 50 and 100.
México state also has the second highest death toll after 187 additional fatalities were reported on Thursday. It has now recorded 809 Covid-19 fatalities, 161 more than Baja California, which has the third highest death toll in Mexico.
Based on confirmed cases and deaths, the coronavirus fatality rate is now 11.1, significantly higher than the global rate of 6.4.
Despite the rapidly rising case tally and death toll, Mexico’s national social distancing initiative – La Jornada Nacional de Sana Distancia – will officially conclude next Saturday just over two months after it commenced.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell stressed on Friday night that the conclusion of the initiative will not “in any way” mark a return to normality and a resumption of all economic and everyday activities.
After May 30, “the majority of large cities” will be allocated a red light on the government’s color-coded “stoplight” system, he said, meaning that “work and school restrictions will continue.”
López-Gatell said that plotting the return to the so-called “new normal” is very complex and that the government is endeavoring to find the right balance. He stressed that the authorities place a higher priority on health and life than on the economy but noted that a lot of Mexicans are currently experiencing severe economic hardship as a result of the coronavirus mitigation measures.
“We live in an extraordinarily unequal country; half of all people live day by day and they’re suffering. … They don’t have [money for their] daily sustenance, to feed themselves. That affects their health and can affect their lives.”
Source: Milenio (sp)
