Mexico Explores Relaxed Lockdown Measures, Surpasses 40K Coronavirus Cases

As Mexican health officials discuss returning to a “new normal,” the country continues to see dramatic increases in cases of Coronavirus (COVID-19). The spikes come despite official accusations and admissions of manipulated statistics.

During a nightly news conference, Mexico’s Undersecretary of Health Hugo Lopez Gatell and staff presented a total of 40,186 confirmed cases and 4,220 fatalities since the pandemic first arrived.

Al 13 de mayo de 2020 hay 40,186 casos confirmados, 9,378 confirmados activos y 24,856 sospechosos por #COVID19. Se han registrado 83,455 negativos, 4,220 defunciones confirmadas, 318 defunciones sospechosas y fueron estudiadas 148,497 personas. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/hiAmLRKjbl

— Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez (@HLGatell) May 14, 2020

Lopez Gatell was harshly criticized for undercounting the true scope of the pandemic and performing limited tests. So far, Mexican federal health officials have only conducted 148,497 tests.

Lopez Gatell previously admitted that federal figures only account for government hospitals. The discrepancies led several states like Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and others to release their own which can show almost twice as many patients.

This week, the chief nursing officer for Mexico’s government health system announced she tested positive and was going into isolation. Chief Fabiana Zepeda Arias previously spoke out about the public harassment of nurses and medical staff.

Me encuentro en aislamiento, ya que di positivo a COVID19. Soy bendecida por mi familia, amigos y colegas que me escriben para monitorearme.

Vivo lo que viven mis compañer@s en todo el mundo. Abrazo solidario en nuestro #DíaDeLaEnfermería, aunque sea virtual y a sana distancia

— Jefa Fabiana (@jefafabiana) May 13, 2020

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.