Mexico surpasses France in number of deaths from coronavirus


A police officer watches over a closed road in the city center after facilities and businesses closed for the second time this weekend due to overcrowding in recent days, as the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID -19) continues, in Mexico City, Mexico. July 4, 2020. REUTERS / Carlos Jasso

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico reported 523 more coronavirus deaths on Saturday, raising its count to 30,366, beating France to become the fifth highest in the world.

The health ministry also reported 6,914 new infections and a total of 252,165 confirmed cases.

The Vice Minister of Health, Hugo López Gatell, reiterated that the actual number of infected was probably significantly higher.

“We knew from the beginning that the cases we report here do not represent the total number of people with COVID-19 in Mexico,” he said at a regular press conference.

“Neither Mexico nor any other country in the world aims to make an exhaustive count.”

Citing unpublished figures from the civil registry, the Milenio radio station said that by June 19 almost twice as many people had died from the virus as reported by López Gatell.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify the information.

Reports by Stefanie Eschenbacher and Sharay Angulo; Richard Chang and Clarence Fernandez edition

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