The COVID-19 death toll in Mexico is potentially much higher than government reports, with the country ranking 6th among those posting more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths in one day, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Based on the normal death rates in 2017, 2018, 2019, the gap in 2020 is approximately 8,000 in Mexico City alone, said David Payan, director of Rice University's Baker Institute's U.S. Mexico Center in Texas.
“The government of Mexico is reporting less than 8,000 coronavirus deaths in the whole country but the numbers show that there were 8,000 additional deaths above the normal rate from all kinds of causes in Mexico City out of 9 million people. I'm not talking about Mexico, the nation. I'm talking about Mexico City,” Payan told Mexico Business Daily.
As of June 14, 2020, 4,401 deaths were reported in Mexico City and 36,272 cases.
As previously reported, Mexico fell in step with its predecessors, the U.S., Brazil, France, China and the UK on June 3, 2020 but Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador blasted the media for creating fear and panic with the publication of the death toll.
“He wants to win the elections in 2021 and doesn't want to scare voters away,” Payan said in an interview. “The more you depress the statistics and the numbers, the more it appears the threat of COVID-19 is minimal.”
Overall, the number of coronavirus cases in Mexico reported by WorldoMeters as of June 14 was 142,690 with 16,872 deaths.
“Clearly, there is huge underreporting by the Mexican government,” Payan said. “There is no confinement. There hasn't ever been airtight confinement in any city in Mexico to be honest and that's going to continue. People are very mobile and that will result in a lot of pain and death.”
It’s been widely reported by the Associated Press that American authorities suspect travel from Mexico could be contributing to a spike in U.S. infections, despite a March 2020 ban that restricts border travel.
In fact, new coronavirus cases are on the rise in border states, such as California, Texas and Arizona, which house a larger number of Hispanics than other states, according to Associated Press data.
“I don't think President Lopez Obrador has expressed any concern with what's going on,” Payan said. “He's been very unempathic and he's allowed the Undersecretary for Health Prevention Mr. Lopez Gatell to essentially fly blind and do whatever.”
As of June 14, 2020, the number of reported cases in California totaled 145,643 and the number of deaths, 4,989. In Arizona, there were 1,183 reported deaths and 32,918 cases as of June 14, 2020 compared to 86,011 reported cases in Texas and 1,957 deaths.
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