New coronavirus cases and Covid-19 deaths have been declining for 19 consecutive weeks, a senior health official said Sunday, but four states recorded an increase in infections in the first two weeks of May compared to the previous fortnight.

Health Ministry Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía said the sustained decrease in cases and deaths was good news but warned citizens not to become complacent and to continue following virus mitigation measures such as social distancing and wearing a face mask.

“… Thanks to the continued implementation of these measures, we’ve been able to have this decrease,” he said.

The national confirmed coronavirus case tally currently stands at 2.38 million while the official Covid-19 death toll is 220,437.

The worst month of the pandemic in Mexico in terms of both new cases and deaths was January but the situation has improved in each subsequent month.

In the first 16 days of May, the Health Ministry reported 37,168 new cases, for a daily average of 2,323. That’s a 34% decline compared to the daily average in April and an 84% drop compared to January.

A total of 3,530 Covid-19 deaths have been reported so far this month for a daily average of 221. That’s a 52% decline compared to reported deaths in April and a 79% drop compared to January, a month in which almost 33,000 fatalities were registered.

Although case numbers have continued to decline at the national level this month, Health Ministry data shows that Baja California, Quintana Roo, Colima and Tamaulipas all recorded more new infections between May 1 and 14 than in the previous two-week period.

New case numbers increased 25.4% in Baja California to 627 from 500 between April 17 and 30. They rose 22.6% in Quintana Roo to 1,478 from 1,205; 20.8% in Colima to 296 from 245; and 12.5% in Tamaulipas to 1,078 from 958.

Quintana Roo currently has the highest hospital occupancy rate for general care beds in the country with 34% of such beds set aside for coronavirus patients taken, according to federal data. Tamaulipas ranks second with an occupancy rate of 18%.

Quintana Roo Governor Carlos Joaquín warned last week that the Caribbean coast state was at high risk of switching to maximum-risk red on the local coronavirus stoplight map due to a recent increase in case numbers.

It is one of just three states that are high-risk orange on the federal stoplight map that is currently in force, the others being Tabasco and Chihuahua. The other 29 states are either medium risk yellow or low-risk green.

Source: Milenio (sp), El Economista (sp)