The coronavirus pandemic has been on the wane for 10 consecutive weeks and the number of COVID deaths currently being recorded is “minimal,” Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell said Tuesday.

The government’s COVID point man told President López Obrador’s regular news conference that there has been “continuous reduction” in case numbers over the past 10 weeks.

One of the “most notable” developments is that COVID wards in hospitals have emptied out, he added, highlighting that just 3% of general care beds and 1% of those with ventilators are currently occupied.

López-Gatell, who has led the government’s response to the pandemic since early 2020, also said that the COVID mortality rate is “minimal” and that there have been recent days with no reported deaths. “This is very positive,” he said.

The federal Health Ministry reported just one COVID-related fatality on Monday, while two were registered on Sunday. Hundreds of daily deaths were the norm in some earlier stages of the pandemic, especially before vaccines were available.

Mexico has the world’s fifth highest total for COVID deaths with 329,899 as of Monday. The country’s mortality rate is the 32nd highest in the world with 258 fatalities per 100,000 people, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.

Health Ministry data shows that Mexico’s accumulated case tally is just over 7 million, a figure considered a vast undercount due to low testing rates. An additional 550 cases were reported Monday, while 809 were registered Sunday.

The Health Ministry estimates that just under 10,000 cases are currently active. That figure was close to 200,000 at the peak of the now vastly diminished fifth wave.

With reports from Sin Embargo