On March 30, 2020, the Mexican government declared a health emergency due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which led to the disease and pandemic named COVID-19, because given the increase in registered cases, urgent measures were needed to stop the chain of contagion among the population.
Since that day, thousands of deaths caused by COVID-19 have been reported. However, the figures may vary depending on the agency that issues the information, since the data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) are not the same as those handled by the Ministry of Health (Ssa), for example.
According to the most recent Ssa report, since the pandemic began and until last Tuesday, July 26, 2022, 327,261 deaths from COVID have been reported nationwide, in addition to another 13,969 deaths suspected of COVID-19, those being deaths of patients with COVID but the cause of death could have been from another illness.
In the first two years of the pandemic, that is, from 2020 to 2021, the Ssa recorded 299,428 deaths. However, in its preliminary report of the Statistics of Registered Deaths in 2021, the INEGI indicated that there were 424,495 deaths in that same period.
The above shows a difference of 125,067 deaths. Likewise, in 2021 the Ssa registered 173,624 deaths from COVID-19, while the Inegi reported 224,239, that is, 50,615 more deaths.
The data that Inegi handled for its Registered Death Statistics report are based on preliminary figures, since the final results will be published in October 2022.
In addition, another difference is that Inegi collected the information from the death certificates of the Civil Registry and the Forensic Medical Services, as well as the statistics issued by the Public Ministry Agencies.
That is why, despite the differences in numbers, the comparison is not entirely accurate. The truth is that in 2021, COVID-19 positioned itself as one of the three main causes of death among Mexicans, since 224,239 deaths were reported nationwide, including men and women, according to Inegi.
In men, the number of deaths was 128,802, being the main cause of death in 2021, while in women 87,456 were registered, which represented the second cause of death for them (the first was heart disease).
In 2020, Inegi recorded 128,802 men who died from COVID-19 and 71,463 women, a difference of 57,339 deaths, the former being the most affected by the disease throughout the pandemic.
According to the epidemiological monitoring of the Ssa, until Tuesday, July 26, there are 6,659,038 infections nationwide. In the last 24 hours, 30,497 infections and 152 deaths were registered.
Regarding active cases (those that have presented symptoms in the last 14 days), 190,597 were reported, with Mexico City being the one with the highest number, with 40,890, followed by the State of Mexico (16,109), Guanajuato (10,830) and Nuevo León (10,742).
