Mexico on Saturday went over the 30,000 COVID-19 fatality mark, surpassing France as the nation with the fifth-largest death toll since the coronavirus epidemic started.
Authorities announced 523 more confirmed deaths for the day, raising the country's total to 30.366. Total confirmed infections in Mexico rose by nearly 6,000 to 251,165, almost on par with Spain.
Around 200 street vendors also blocked many major avenues in downtown Mexico City on Saturday to demand that they be allowed to sell again in the midst of the pandemic.
Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez Gatell reiterated that the actual number of infected was probably significantly higher. In a media briefing, he said that they knew from the start that the coronavirus cases that have been reported in the country do not represent the actual number of people sick with the virus.
Neither Mexico nor any other nation in the globe aims to make an exhaustive tally, Reuters reported. Citing unpublished numbers from the civil registry office, broadcaster Milenio disclosed that by June 19 almost twice as many people had perished from COVID-19 as reported by the health ministry.
The World Health Organization reported a single-day peak for global COVID-19 cases, led by the Americas, as cases in the United States spiked 1.7 percent. Texas and Florida posted new virus records as US President Donald Trump claimed a vaccine treatment will be available by end of 2020.
In India, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases soared 7.2 percent to 648,315, according to data by Bloomberg News and Johns Hopkins University.
Like in other Latin American nations, Mexican health authorities have had to balance their handling of the pandemic with consideration for a key group of individuals who must collaborate to meet fundamental daily requirements. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has widely focused on reactivating the country's economy over implementing rigid lockdowns.
Health officials had allowed a partial reopening of some downtown areas though cases of the virus continue to rise, but they changed track on Friday after a lack of sanitary measures were reported at some business outlets.
While most consumers and workers wore some form of mask, many shops did not cut the number of customers that are allowed in or provide the mandated foot-wiping pads or hand sanitizers.
Meanwhile, critics said Obrado was slow to implement a large-scale lockdown and now has been quick to ease them. Most of Mexico's economy was stopped starting March 23, but some sectors that were declared critical to the functioning of the country were exempt from the restrictions.
