Mexico's Death Toll Surpasses United Kingdom, Officials Believe Real Numbers Are Way Higher

Mexico continues to witness a surge in COVID-19 cases. Fresh clusters of the infection were recorded, with the health ministry has reported 4, 376 new cases, and 292 fatalities on Friday. Despite the spike, tested positive, experts are of the opinion that the real number of confirmed cases could be far higher.

The country has so far recorded the third-highest coronavirus death tally with over 52,298 deaths. Mexico surpassed the United Kingdom’s death toll, which was at the third spot before Mexico experienced an unprecedented spike in the past week.

On Friday, state governors slammed Obrador’s government for its mismanagement of the outbreak. The sudden resignation of Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell fuelled added furor to the pre-existing chaos, as several officials implied deep-seated corruption in the administration.

President Manuel Lopez Obrador addressed the nation last month and expressed his government’s desire to launch a campaign in a bid to promote a healthier way of being amid a pandemic that calls for stronger immunity and enhanced hygiene standards. Obrador amassed severe backlash from local health authorities after the president urged people to get back to normal in a desperate bid to save Mexico’s plummeting economy.

The Obrador government had previously announced a phased plan to ease the lockdown restrictions in May. It was reported that scores of factory workers resumed work amid the rising number of cases by mid-June, fearing the loss of jobs.

Furthermore, a volley of non-essential businesses was permitted to reopen for business at the start of July in the city, the epicenter of the country's outbreak to keep the livelihoods running. Health care workers have reported abuse while being on the job, compounded by the challenges that came forth due to shortages in supply.

Mexico falls right below the United States of America and Brazil among the list of countries to be hardest hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak. Despite stringent measures being adopted, it hasn’t been easy to flatten the curve. The World Health Organization had previously deemed the pandemic and its catastrophic effect to linger on “for decades to come.”

“Although vaccine development is happening at record speed, we must learn to live with this virus, and we must fight it with the tools we have,” said WHO head Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus while labeling the viral outbreak as a once-in-a-century health crisis.