Mexico is Seeing a Worrisome Increase in COVID-19 Cases: PAHO

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) recognized the trend of increasing COVID-19 cases in Mexico. This increase in cases is predominantly in Yucatan, Baja California Sur and Mexico City, where young people play an active role in the transmission and contagion of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.

In the last few days, the Federal Ministry of Health reported 9,452 new cases of COVID-19, reports El Economista. The number of positive cases is expected to grow further, warned Sylvain Aldighieri, PAHO's Incident Manager for COVID-19.

PAHO reported that in North America, overall transmission trends are going down but in some areas transmission continues to rise. Aldighieri reiterated that young adults play an important and active role in the transmission of COVID -19 in Mexico: "the expansion of access to vaccination to the 20-29 age group is an important factor because it is an age group playing a role in the process at this time in the country."

Aldighieri also stressed the importance of the strict application of public health measures throughout the tourism sector, including resorts in the three most affected states. "An increase in trends was reported in the states of the Yucatan Peninsula and Baja California Sur, which have important tourist activities." 

Carissa Etienne, PAHO director, reported at the weekly press conference that 1.1 million new cases were reported in the Americas region last week. Although there had been a slight drop compared to the previous week accompanied by a reduction in mortality, the region still reported more than half of the deaths recorded worldwide. She added that the impact of the pandemic in the Americas continues to devastate families and communities, despite some relief in parts of the region.

Concerning vaccination, Etienne said that progress has been made in vaccinating the region, but it has been unequal. She reported that one in four people in the Americas have been vaccinated with the full schedule, with more than 600 million doses administered in the region. However, more than half of these doses have been allocated in only one country: the US. Millions of people in the Americas still do not know when they will have the opportunity to be vaccinated.

In terms of doses administered, the US is followed by Brazil in second place and Mexico in third . Mexico, being one of the privileged countries in the region, has applied 48.5 million doses. Also, according to Our World in Data, an average of 4 doses per 1,000 inhabitants have been administered in the last two weeks. Approximately a quarter of the population has received at least one dose, and almost 16 percent have already completed their vaccination schedule.