Mexico has just experienced its deadliest week since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with an average of 983 deaths per day for seven days, according to figures released Thursday.
From Thursday January 7 to Wednesday January 13, Mexico recorded 6,885 coronavirus-related deaths, with a ceiling of 1,314 on Tuesday 12, figures released by authorities show.
As of Thursday, the total toll of the epidemic in Mexico was 137,916 dead and 1,588,369 cases of contamination.
Contamination also peaked in the past week, with a daily average of 24,105 new cases.
Mexico is the fourth country most heavily affected by the virus in absolute numbers and the 18the if we consider the number of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, according to an AFP database based on official data from the states concerned.
Aggravation
Mexico’s health system, a country of 128 million people, is currently overwhelmed, particularly in Mexico City, where 24,105 people have died as of Wednesday out of a population of nine million.
The occupancy rate of hospital services in the capital is 91%, according to the Secretary of Health. As of Tuesday, 7013 patients were hospitalized, of which 1782 were intubated.
The situation is also worsening in the provinces. In the state of Jalisco, an outbreak of COVID-19 broke out on December 24 at a facility for the elderly.
In three weeks, 13 people died, including 12 residents and a woman belonging to the staff, according to the management of the establishment, and 64 other people were infected, including 46 residents, 13 staff members and five nuns who frequented the premises. .
In Mexico City, the deterioration of the situation greatly worries the population. “We are panicked, scared, but there are a lot of people who don’t understand. They go out without masks, they have parties, they don’t realize what they’re up to, ”said Antonio Hoyos, a 55-year-old employee who came to buy an oxygen cylinder for his son.
“We are suffering because we have relatives infected and they act as if nothing had happened,” he said as two young people passed him without masks.
After a period of stabilization, the mortality curve started to rise again at the end of 2020 and it accelerates in January.
Loss of control
As in other countries, the easing of restrictions decided by the authorities and the breaches of instructions during the holiday season have led to this development.
“Since the end of November, we have lost control of social activity, and people have started exaggeratingly going out into the streets to make purchases and other activities that promote contagion,” told AFP epidemiologist Malaquias Lopez.
For him, the prospect of mass vaccination has also had a negative impact. “People believe that now that we have the vaccine we can forget about the dangers, but the truth is that vaccinating is going to take time,” he said.
“We are not going to have a significant impact from vaccination for a long time, and by then many will be dead,” warned the epidemiologist.