Mexico beats Italy to become world’s 4th-deadliest nation

Mexico surpassed italy in the number of covid-19 deaths, and has become the world’s fourth-deadliest nation.

Deaths rose by 276 to 35,006, according to data released by the Health Ministry on Sunday. Cases rose by 4,482 to 299,750. Over the last two weeks, total deaths in Mexico also overtook Spain and France, as Latin America has increasingly become a hot spot for the pandemic.

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has prioritized reactivating the economy over enforcing strict lockdowns, a strategy that has drawn criticism that his government hasn’t taken the virus seriously enough. Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-gatell, who’s leading the country’s response to the virus, has said the disease’s impact in Mexico has been exacerbated by inequality and an overabundance of processed foods, which have contributed to illnesses that make Covid-19 even more deadly.

Like other Latin American countries, Mexico has vulnerable populations where people must work to meet basic needs and live in crowded quarters, adding to the challenge of enforcing social

distancing.

The country posted repeated record rises in Covid-19 cases this week, with health officials reporting more than 7,000 new confirmed cases for the first time on Thursday night. Despite that, Lopez-gatell has said the illness is not spreading in the country as quickly as it was.

US cases hit 3.27 million

US coronavirus cases rose by 55,688 on Sunday compared with the same time on Saturday to 3.27 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The 1.7 percent gain was smaller than the national average daily increase of 1.9 percent over the past week. Deaths rose 0.4 percent from Saturday to 134,904.

Florida added a record 15,300 virus cases on Sunday, the biggest one-day rise since the coronavirus outbreak began in the US. New York, California and Texas have all reached almost 12,000 in a single day. It was a 6 percent daily rise compared to an average increase of 4.8 percent over the last week. The state reported a drop in deaths, to 44 from 95 the day before.

Texas posted 8,196 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the state’s total to 258,658. The increase of 3.3 percent was below the seven-day average of 3.9 percent. The number of deaths rose by 80 to 3,192, the Department of State Health Services said on its web site.

South Carolina reported 1,952 new cases on Sunday, a drop from the record 2,239 posted the day before, for a total of 56,485, the state’s Department of Health and Environmental Control said on its web site.

Deaths in Arizona rose for a third day, to 86 reported on Sunday, while the increase in new cases slowed to 2.1 percent from the weekly average rise of 3.4 percent. The state reported 2,537 new cases, for a total of 122,467. That compared to 3,038 cases the day before. Deaths rose from 69 reported Saturday and 44 on Friday. Total deaths are 2,237.

California added 8,460 new Covid-19 cases, a 2.7 percent increase, according to the health department’s web site. That’s below the 3 percent seven-day average. There have been 320,804 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state. The number of deaths climbed by 72, or 1 percent, to 7,017.

New York reported 677 new Covid-19 cases, a 0.2 percent rise in line with the seven-day average of daily cases.

New Jersey posted 349 more virus cases, a 0.2 percent rise in line with the average increase over the last week. The state now has a total of 175,298 infections. Another 16 people died, for a total of 13,594 fatalities.

Brazil cases approach 1.9 million BRAZIL, which lags only the US in the number of confirmed infections and deaths, recorded 24,831 new cases of Covid-19, pushing the total to 1,864,681, according to the Health Ministry’s web site. Deaths increased by 631 to 72,100. While both counts were the lowest in five days, Brazil’s reported numbers show a pattern of being lower on Sundays.

India has 50,000 new cases INDIA added more than 50,000 new cases over the weekend, with deaths topping 1,000.

Hong Kong new infections HONG KONG reported 38 new cases on Sunday, feeding fears of resurgence in the Asian financial hub after weeks of near-normal activity. The government has been reimposing restrictions in response.

Bloomberg News

www.businessmirror.com.ph