More than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases were reported on Wednesday and Mexico recorded its biggest single-day increase in its coronavirus death toll but the nation’s health system is not overwhelmed, according to data presented by the federal Health Ministry.

Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía said that 1,047 new Covid-19 cases had been detected, taking Mexico’s accumulated total of cases to 17,799. He also reported 163 new fatalities from the disease, lifting the death toll to 1,732 – a 10% jump compared to Tuesday.

Of the confirmed cases, 5,444 are considered active, Alomía told reporters at the nightly coronavirus press briefing. Mexico City has the highest number of active cases followed by México state, Tabasco, Baja California and Veracruz. Among those currently ill are 16 babies.

In addition to the confirmed cases, Alomía said that there are 13,263 suspected Covid-19 cases across the country. Almost 82,000 people have now been tested for the disease, he said.

Despite the growing outbreak of Covid-19 in Mexico – confirmed cases have now more than doubled since the government declared the commencement of phase three of the pandemic on Tuesday of last week – there are still plenty of beds available across the country’s public health system, data shows.

Alomía presented graphs showing 77% availability of hospital beds for patients requiring general care and 79% availability for patients needing critical care and access to a ventilator. In other words, only just over one in five public hospital beds are currently occupied in Mexico.

However, data for individual states shows that the availability of hospital beds is much lower in those that have large Covid-19 outbreaks.

In Mexico City, where almost 4,800 people have tested positive, there is only 40% availability for patients requiring general care and 49% availability of critical care beds.

In México state and Baja California, which have the second and third biggest Covid-19 outbreaks, availability of general care beds is 59% and 56%, respectively, while for critical care beds it is 60% and 56%.

The health system in some states that have not recorded large Covid-19 outbreaks are under greater pressure than those in some other states with much higher case numbers.

Querétaro, where only 128 people have tested positive for Covid-19, has the fourth lowest availability of general care beds at 65%, while San Luis Potosí, where just 98 coronavirus cases have been detected, has the third lowest availability of critical care beds at 57%.

In contrast, the state with the sixth highest number of cases in the country, Quintana Roo, has 98% availability of general care beds and 95% availability of critical care beds.

Although data shows that there are still plenty of critical care beds available, the percentage of patients requiring them rose sharply on Wednesday. About one in five Covid-19 patients, 21%, are now in critical care beds compared to one in seven, 14%, the day before.

Alomía said Tuesday that between 60% and 80% of critically-ill Covid-19 patients who have required intubation have died.

The death toll on Wednesday – 163 new fatalities – exceeded the previous high of 152 by 7%. Since the government’s phase three declaration, the Health Ministry has reported 1,020 coronavirus-related deaths, meaning that almost 60% of all fatalities in Mexico occurred in the past nine days.

Mexico City has recorded the highest number of deaths with 389 followed by Baja California and México state, where 215 and 143 people, respectively, have lost their lives. Sinaloa, Tabasco and Quintana Roo have the next highest death tolls with more than 100 fatalities in each state.

Source: Milenio (sp)