Mexico recorded its biggest single-day increase in both Covid-19 deaths and cases on Tuesday while the number of active cases in the country is at its highest level yet.
The federal Health Ministry reported 501 additional fatalities at Tuesday night’s coronavirus press briefing, lifting the death toll to 8,134.
It also reported 3,455 new confirmed Covid-19 cases, increasing the accumulated case tally to 74,560.
The death toll reported yesterday was 4.6% higher than the previous daily high of 479 fatalities while the spike in cases was up 3.8% compared to the former single-day record of 3,329 cases.
Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía said that that there are also 31,878 suspected cases of Covid-19 and that 235,129 people have now been tested.
The number of active cases increased by 698 between Monday and Tuesday to 14,718, the highest level since Covid-19 was first detected in Mexico at the end of February.
Mexico City has now recorded 20,999 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic of which 3,673 are active. México state ranks second for both accumulated and active cases, with 12,366 of the former and 1,749 of the latter.
Veracruz now has the third largest active coronavirus outbreak in the country, swapping places with Tabasco between Monday and Tuesday. The former now has 729 active cases – an increase of 129 compared to Monday – while the latter has 628.
Two other states have active outbreaks of more than 500 cases: Baja California, with 604 and Puebla, with 574.
The 501 additional coronavirus-related deaths pushed Mexico’s fatality rate up by 0.2 to 10.9 per 100 cases, well above the global rate of 6.3.
Mexico’s official death toll is the ninth highest in the world after those of the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Spain, Brazil, Belgium and Germany.
Just over one in four Covid-19 deaths here occurred in Mexico City, which has now recorded 2,166 fatalities, according to official data. México state has recorded 943 deaths; Baja California, 740; Sinaloa, 427; Tabasco, 424; and Veracruz, 416.
At the other end of the scale, seven states have recorded fewer than 50 deaths: Colima, Durango, Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Baja California Sur, San Luis Potosí and Nayarit.
Among the more than 8,000 people who have lost their lives to Covid-19 in Mexico have been six people aged over 100.
However, 11 other centenarians, including a 114-year-old Tamaulipas man and a 113-year-old Mexico City woman, defied the odds and overcame the disease.
National data presented at last night’s press briefing showed that 38% of general hospital beds set aside for the treatment of coronavirus patients in Mexico are now occupied while 34% of those with ventilators are in use.
Guerrero, Mexico City and México state have the highest occupancy levels for general care beds, with 77%, 67% and 56%, respectively, currently in use.
México state, Baja California and Guerrero have the lowest availability of critical care beds, with 62%, 61% and 56%, respectively, currently occupied.
Source: Milenio (sp)
