Mexico admits Covid death toll much higher than official number

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Mexico admits Covid death toll much higher than official number

Disease now suspected of killing at least 139,153 people compared with official toll of 88,924

Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent
Mon 26 Oct 2020 16.29 GMT

Mexico’s government has admitted its Covid-19 death toll is dramatically higher than official figures have suggested, with the disease now suspected of killing at least 139,153 people.

The official coronavirus death toll of Latin America’s second largest economy stands at 88,924 – the fourth highest number in the world after the US, Brazil and India. But on Sunday night officials conceded the true number of Covid-19 deaths was likely to be at least 50,000 higher.

The director of Mexico’s National Centre for Preventive Programs and Disease Control, Ruy López Ridaura, told reporters that based on historical averages 524,920 deaths had been anticipated between the start of the year and 26 September, but 718,090 had actually been recorded.

That meant there had been 193,170 “excess” deaths of which authorities thought nearly 140,000, or 72%, might be attributed to the coronavirus. Experts reached that conclusion by searching death certificates for words and diagnoses with some apparent connection to Covid-19.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/26/mexico-coronavirus-death-toll-much-higher-official-number