Mexico City, Jan. 26, (dpa/GNA) – Mexico’s coronavirus death toll has topped 150,000, making it the fourth country worldwide to pass the grim milestone.
Figures released by the Mexican Health Ministry on Monday showed the total number of deaths from Covid-19 recorded since the pandemic began had risen to 150,273.
The country’s highest number of deaths in a 24-hour period – 1,803 – was recorded last Thursday.
Many hospitals in Mexico are full.
On Sunday, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced he had tested positive for coronavirus and was being treated for mild symptoms of Covid-19.
He had had contact with numerous people without wearing a mask in the preceding days, including the government’s top pandemic expert Hugo Lopez-Gatell.
Lopez-Gatell did not attend the coronavirus press conference at the presidential palace in person on Monday as he usually does, but instead took part via videolink.
He said the president has a light fever, but to protect his privacy, no more details were given.
In Mexico, a country of almost 130 million people, there has been little testing for the virus and hardly any contact tracing.
The country’s borders have stayed open and visitors are neither required to show a negative test result or isolate when they arrive.
There have been no restrictions on the public going out or rules requiring them to wear masks.
Mexico’s richest citizen, the 80-year-old telecoms billionaire Carlos Slim Helu, also fell ill with Covid-19, his son Carlos Slim Domit tweeted on Monday.
He had mild symptoms more than a week ago and was treated.
GNA