The Ministry of Health (SSa) reported this Saturday, June 20, that the accumulated infections of COVID-19 in Mexico are 175,202, adding 4,717 new cases today. Furthermore, since the beginning of the epidemic, Mexico has suffered 20,781 fatalities, with 387 new deaths today.
There are 23,567 confirmed active cases in the country, which represent the cases recorded in the past 14 days. Mexico has only tested 473,952 people since the beginning of the pandemic. This was reported this Saturday by José Luis Alomía, General Director of Epidemiology, during the evening conference.
The city of Puerto Vallarta reported a total of 644 cases yesterday, 214 more cases than the Federal Government reports for the city. To date, 43 people have died from COVID-19 in Puerto Vallarta.
The State of Jalisco has found itself moving to the top five states for COVID-19 infections after ranking near the bottom for the last two months. More cases have been detected in the past two weeks than the total 2 months prior.
Jalisco is reporting a total of 8,383 as of yesterday, however, the Federal Government is only reporting 4,791 cases in the state, an under-reporting of 3,592 cases.
The Federal Government only reports cases diagnosed in public hospitals and clinics, private hospitals and laboratories are not included in the federal statistics, that is the reason for the discrepancies in the numbers between the State, City and Federal Government.
The epidemic curve in the country as of June 20 maintains an upward trend when confirmed cases are combined with suspected cases, although the government announced on May 6 that the country had reached its peak, and has declared the pandemic curve has been flattened and the virus has been tamed.
The coronavirus and economic crisis has triggered a heated political debate in Mexico, which is heading towards the largest electoral contest in its history with the holding of next year’s federal and state elections.
The reelection of the Chamber of Deputies and 15 of the 32 state governors will serve as a thermometer to know the state of health of the presidency of Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who in late 2018 won the most votes of any president in the contemporary history of Mexico.
“Intensified polarization of political forces, which have taken advantage of the situation of the health emergency to capitalize on the wear of the government,” said EFE political scientist Martha Singer, professor at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) .
On June 6, 2021, 94 million Mexicans will be called to the polls to elect the 500 federal deputies, 15 governors, 30 state congresses, and 1,900 mayors, according to the National Electoral Institute (INE).
“Never before have 15 governors been elected simultaneously, which can give or take a lot of strength to López Obrador” Singer stressed.
The main unknown will be to see how the Morena party is doing, a party created in the image and likeness of López Obrador, who has suffered severe wear and tear from the health crisis, but maintains an approval rating about 50 percent.
