The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Mexico rose by more than 1,000 in one day for the first time on Wednesday, signaling the country’s curve is moving sharply higher.
Confirmed cases rose by 11% to 10,544, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said at a nightly press conference. The number of deaths rose by 13% to 970. The Health Ministry estimates as many as eight times more people have had the virus than is shown by the official data.
Lopez-Gatell said the tally of deaths includes cases when conditions indicate the victim had Covid-19, even if it hasn’t been confirmed. Mexico has faced criticism for its lax approach to the coronavirus including a lack of testing.
Test Scarcity Means Latin America Is ‘Walking Blindly’ on Virus
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said Mexico won’t enforce stricter measures on companies that don’t follow guidelines as the virus spreads. Instead the president will name the companies that don’t comply.
“Everything is done through persuasion,” Lopez Obrador said in his morning press conference on Wednesday. “Nothing will be done with the use of force, all is done through reason and the law.”
Source: bloomberg.com