Infection Cases Spike After Holiday, Mexico Nears 300,000 Deaths From COVID-19

COVID-19 Illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Mstyslav Chernov)

JAKARTA - Mexico is likely to surpass 300,000 deaths from COVID-19 this week, the fifth-highest death toll worldwide, as infections rose after the holiday season, driven by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus and largely unrestricted tourism.

Infections more than doubled to 20,000 over the past week, when many tourists visited Mexico from the United States and Canada. Eleven of Mexico's 32 states have decided not to continue live classes this week with cases rapidly increasing.

The arrival of the highly contagious Omicron variant reversed the decline in infections during the fall, when widespread application of the vaccine provided relief. Some Mexicans say people have let their guard down by the time the holidays arrive.

"Since December, a lot of people have started going out and there are many who are no longer wearing masks," said Isauro Perez, a 53-year-old taxi driver in Mexico City.

"If we don't take care of ourselves, the government won't take care of us."

As of Wednesday, Mexico had recorded 299,805 confirmed deaths from COVID-19, a figure likely well below the true number, officials said.

Separate government data showed there were nearly 452,000 deaths 'associated with' COVID-19 in mid-December, and lower testing likely helped shrink the virus' reach.

Illustration of COVID-19 in Mexico. (Wikimedia Commons/EneasMx)

Mexico has the highest death rate, deaths per confirmed case, of the 20 countries most affected by COVID-19 worldwide, according to an analysis by Johns Hopkins University.

Separately, Laurie Ximenez-Fyvie, a molecular geneticist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), said in the end, Mexico's death toll will be the main gauge of how the government is doing in the pandemic. So far, he argues, it risks suffering "absolute failure."

Meanwhile, according to figures from Our World in Data, a research group at the University of Oxford, in the week ending January 1, Mexico carried out only 0.12 daily coronavirus tests for every 1,000 residents, down from a peak of 0.38 per day in mid-August.

In comparison, the UK will be able to carry out 20.6 tests a day per 1,000 residents by the time 2021 ends. In addition, some parts of Europe and the United States have imposed additional restrictions with the deployment of Omicron, Mexico has so far refused and tourists do not need to test negative to enter the country.

Videos of unmasked travelers drinking alcohol and gathering together while taking a charter flight to the Mexican coastal destination of Cancun from Montreal in late December went viral, prompting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to call for an investigation.

"It's a slap in the face," he said.

The surge in new cases could hit Mexico harder than some countries, because it has lower vaccination rates than the United States and much of Europe, health experts say.

To note, nationally, only 56 percent of Mexico's population is fully vaccinated, compared to 62 percent in the United States and 81 percent in Spain. But Mexicans are ready to receive the vaccine, with 95 percent of Mexico City's adults fully vaccinated.

However, the government has not yet launched a vaccination program for people under the age of 15, although more children are hospitalized. More than one in four Mexicans are under the age of 14, according to World Bank data.