Mexico Overtakes India to Have World’s 3rd Most COVID Deaths

Mexico's Covid-19 deaths surpassed those in India, making the country's outbreak the third most deadly in the world, as officials struggle to contain a pandemic that is taking an increasingly grim toll.

The Ministry of Health reported an increase of 1,506 deaths on Thursday night, bringing the total to 155,145. Cases rose from 18,670 to 1,825,519, reports Bloomberg.

President Andres Manuel López Obrador, who is currently fighting the disease, has resisted mandatory lockdowns seen in other countries and has largely pushed forward with the same priorities that he had before the outbreak. He avoided widespread direct stimulus to ease the economic impact of the virus and continued his efforts to eradicate corruption.

“The Covid-19 pandemic causes much sadness, much pain, it’s harmful, but more harmful, more dire is the plague of corruption; it’s worse than an illness,” Lopez Obrador said at an event last week. The president made the remark a day after Mexico reported a record daily rise of 1,803 Covid deaths.

As Mexico's toll rose, the country surpassed Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. In total deaths, Lopez Obrador emphasized the larger population. But Mexico now has a higher death toll than a country with more than 10 times as many people in overtaking India. On the basis of Covid's 19 per capita deaths, Mexico ranks among the top three in Latin America.

India's reported fatality rate of Covid declined to about one-tenth of its daily high in September to more than 100 deaths a day. The number of registered cases also decreased after the start of vaccination earlier in January. The South Asian nation of about 1.3 billion people was released from one of the strictest lockdowns in the world earlier last year.

Mexico began administering the Pfizer vaccine at the end of December, but it hasn’t seen any decrease in cases or deaths. Confirmed fatalities put the country behind only the U.S. and Brazil, and health officials acknowledge the actual toll from the pandemic is much higher, with those estimates being among the most in the world. Mexico’s positive test rate, above 40%, indicate a prevalence of undetected cases in the country.

Lopez Obrador’s government has sent mixed signals as the virus has raged through the country. Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell, who’s overseeing the country’s response to the illness, has implored people in nightly press conferences to stay home, wear a mask and maintain social distancing. But in the days before announcing his illness, Lopez Obrador took a commercial flight, attended events and appeared in photographs without a mask on.

Hospital occupancy in the capital of Mexico City has remained close to 90% over the last few weeks, and economic activity remains limited to what is essential. According to the Ministry of Health, beds have been filled throughout the country with eight other states having an occupancy rate of more than 70%.