New coronavirus hotspots are emerging as Mexico’s Covid-19 case tally and death toll continue to show steady growth.
Active case numbers increased by 297% in Durango in the last two weeks while those in Jalisco, Guanajuato and Coahuila more than doubled, according to data presented by the federal Health Ministry on Monday night.
Durango currently has 278 active cases, a figure that accounts for more than 40% of the total number of cases the northern state has recorded since the start of the pandemic.
Active case numbers in Jalisco increased by 190% in the past two weeks compared to the fortnight prior. With 1,102 active cases, the state currently has the third largest outbreak in the country behind only Mexico City and México state.
Active case numbers rose 132% in Guanajuato between May 26 and June 8 to 859 while those in Coahuila increased 113% to 323.
Aguascalientes, Nayarit and Tabasco recorded the next highest increases, with spikes of 98%, 71% and 65%, respectively.
In contrast, active case numbers decreased in five states. Guerrero and Yucatán recorded the biggest declines, with reductions of 41% and 23%, respectively. The former state currently has 195 active cases while the latter has 302.
The size of the active outbreaks in Querétaro, Hidalgo and Sonora shrank by 7%, 4% and 1%, respectively, over the past two weeks, while Morelos’ outbreak neither grew nor waned.
Active cases in Baja California, a state that has recorded the third highest number of cases since the start of the pandemic, increased by only 1% over the past two weeks while those in Mexico City, the country’s coronavirus epicenter, rose by 9%.
The only other states where active case numbers increased by less than 20% were Veracruz, Chihuahua, Quintana Roo, Michoacán, Sinaloa, Colima and Tlaxcala.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo López-Gatell reiterated on Monday night that the pandemic will affect different parts of the country at different times due to the large size of Mexico’s territory.
Earlier in the press briefing, Health Ministry Director of Epidemiology José Luis AlomÃa reported that Mexico’s coronavirus case tally had increased to 120,102 with 2,999 new cases registered on Monday.
The Covid-19 death toll increased to 14,053 with 354 additional fatalities registered. AlomÃa said that an additional 1,284 deaths are suspected to have been caused by Covid-19 but have not yet been confirmed.
Based on confirmed cases and deaths, Mexico’s fatality rate is currently 11.7, well above the global rate of 5.7.
AlomÃa said that 18,416 of the confirmed cases are considered active and that there are 46,398 suspected cases across the country. More than 344,000 people have now been tested for Covid-19.
Mexico City leads the country for accumulated coronavirus cases, active cases and deaths, while México state ranks second in all three categories.
The capital has recorded 3,804 Covid-19 fatalities while the death toll in neighboring México state is 1,621. Baja California is the only other state that has recorded more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths.
Across Mexico, two-thirds of those who have lost their lives to Covid-19 have been men, while the average age of deceased coronavirus patients was 61.
The most common existing health problems among those who died were hypertension, diabetes and obesity.
