Tourists walk along the promenade of Laguna de Chapala in Chapala, State of Jalisco, Mexico. (AFP)
Mexico:
Deaths in Mexico from the coronavirus pandemic surpassed 35,000 on Sunday, the Latin American country overtaking Italy for the fourth highest number of deaths in the world, according to Reuters data.
But leftist President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said Sunday that the pandemic “was losing its intensity” in Mexico, and accused what he called “conservative media” of raising the alarm.
Mexico recorded an additional 276 deaths and 4,482 new infections on Sunday, bringing the number of coronavirus deaths to 35,006 on Sunday, with 299,750 confirmed cases. Italy recorded 34,954 deaths and 243,061 cases. Mexico follows the United States, Brazil and the United Kingdom for the total number of deaths.
While Italy appears to have brought the virus under control, the pandemic shows few signs of slowing down in Mexico, where the government has been criticized for having reopened its economy too soon.
Lopez Obrador said he had been informed of the pandemic last week and was optimistic.
“The report is positive, good. The conclusion is that the pandemic is decreasing, that it is losing its intensity,” he said in a video message.
Lopez Obrador also supported Hugo Lopez-Gatell, Mexican Deputy Minister of Health and coronavirus tsar, after criticizing his handling of the crisis.
Lopez-Gatell continued to revise its projections for the total number of deaths and, most recently, in June, it predicted up to 35,000 deaths until October. In early May, the estimate was 6,000.
The number of coronavirus deaths per million people in Mexico, with a population of around 120 million, is the 16th highest in the world, according to data from the research firm Statista.
But Mexican officials say the real toll is likely to be much higher due to limited testing. A Reuters analysis of data on funeral homes in May indicated a toll more than double the figures reported.
Several former officials have criticized the Lopez Obrador administration for its management of the epidemic.
Former Health Minister Salomon Chertorivski, who held the post from 2011 to 2012, said Thursday that the government had reopened the economy before meeting the criteria set to do so worldwide. He added that Mexico may need to impose a new lock.
“There are three basic variables: a reduction in the last 14 days in the number of contagions, a reduction in the last days in the number of deaths and a reduction in the number of people hospitalized,” Chertorivski told the Mexican newspaper Reforma.
“None of these three parameters have been reached.”
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
