Does the toll of Covid-19 in Mexico exceed that of Brazil, officially ranked second most affected country in the world? The Mexican Ministry of Health (SSA) recognized, Saturday March 27, an excess mortality which could bring the toll of the epidemic to more than 321,000 deaths in the country. A jump of 60% compared to official figures, which listed, Monday, March 29, 201,826 deaths. This severe revision provokes an outcry against the government’s health strategy.
Discreetly published on the government website on Saturday, the SSA report reveals that 294,287 Mexicans died from Covid-19 between February 28, 2020 (start of the pandemic in Mexico) and February 14, 2021. The analysis of excess mortality, based on a comparison of death certificates with previous years, identified an increase of 119,634 deaths linked to the coronavirus in comparison with the official toll (174,653 deaths) as of February 14, 2021. Since then, 27,173 additional deaths have confirmed by the government, bringing the total to 321,460 deaths as of Monday.
Approximately, the estimate would propel the country from third to second in the world in absolute number of deaths, ahead of Brazil (313,866 deaths) and behind the United States (550,003 deaths). This colossal readjustment is explained by the inclusion of home death certificates. According to the SSA, only 19% of patients with confirmed Covid-19 contagion go to hospital.
“These data prove that the pandemic has completely overtaken the hospital system, because many people have died at home”, reacted in the media Malaquias Lopez, specialist in public health at the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). This one deplores “The low recourse to massive tests by the government, which prevents knowing the true estimate of deaths linked to Covid-19”.
Late reaction
An opinion shared by Ann Ximenez-Fyvie, head of the molecular genetics laboratory at UNAM: “Sooner or later, we will know the extent of the disaster caused by the criminal management of the pandemic by our authorities. ” According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepal), the Mexican response to the pandemic was the latest of the 33 countries in the region. Mexico City took nineteen days to implement health measures, after the detection, on February 28, 2020, of the first case of contagion. The first death due to Covid-19 was recorded on March 18.
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