Yucatecan Maya, the indigenous population most affected by Covid-19 in all of Mexico

YUCATÁN, (June 10, 2021) .- Yucatán remains as the state with the highest number of indigenous people infected with Covid-19, registering nearly three thousand confirmed cases, in just over 14 months.

Likewise, it ranks first in the nation for deaths of natives infected with this rapidly lethal transmission pathology.

Currently, Yucatán is the sixth state with the highest density of infected natives but occupies the first place in morbidity of the indigenous population due to Covid-19. So far, in the Mexican Republic, there are about 19 thousand indigenous people infected, of which 15.5 percent have died.

The Covid-19 pandemic has positioned itself as the greatest health, social and economic challenge that the world has faced in the last 100 years.

According to the federal agency, “beyond the burden of the disease itself, the pandemic has contributed to show the deep inequalities that exist between and within societies.”

Therefore, a particularly vulnerable group is that of indigenous peoples, who according to the intercensal survey carried out by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in 2015 an indigenous population of 25,694,928 million people was registered, which represents the 20.1 percent of the total population of the country.

Globally, indigenous peoples are almost three times more likely to live in extreme poverty than non-indigenous peoples, regardless of the region where they live.

According to the Eleventh Epidemiological Report 2021 of Covid-19 in the population that is recognized as Indigenous, until last May 27, 2,405,722 million cases confirmed by a laboratory, clinical-epidemiological association, and by opinion were reported, in addition to 222,657 deaths in the country.

Likewise, it was established that of the total infected, 19,768 cases correspond to a population that is recognized as indigenous, 0.82 percent of the total registered in the country, as well as 3,073, are deaths from Covid-19.

The fatality rate in the population that is recognized as indigenous is 15 deaths per 100 cases and presents a mortality rate of 11.9 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.

Yucatán is positioned as the state with the most reported cases, with 2,988 Maya people infected, 15.1 percent, followed by Mexico City, with 2,458 infected, 12.4 percent, and Oaxaca, with 2,628 infections, that represent 10.4 percent.

At the national level, the median age of 47 years was registered, with a range of 0 to 100 years, with a predominance of males with 10,714 cases, 54 percent.

Of the 3,073 deaths reported, the majority are concentrated in Yucatán, with 510 deaths, 16.6 percent, followed by Oaxaca, with 425 deaths, 13.8 percent; Puebla, with 270 casualties, 8.8 percent; Mexico City, 242 deceased, 7.9 percent, and Hidalgo, with 223 cases, 7.3 percent.

The median age of all deaths was 65 years, with a range from 0 to 97 years, with 63 percent of deaths registered in men.