Mexico’s Coronavirus Death Toll Surpasses China’s ‘Official’ Figures

The death toll from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Mexico surpassed the “official” figures reported by the Chinese government. Both countries are widely accused of doctoring figures to downplay the true scope of the pandemic.

During a daily news conference, Mexico’s Undersecretary of Health Hugo Lopez Gatell and his staff released their most recent statistics that point to 45,032 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 4,767 fatalities since the start of the pandemic. The true numbers could be even higher since, as Breitbart Texas reported, Lopez Gatell admitted that his figures are from government hospitals and do not include private cases.

Al 15 de mayo de 2020 hay 45,032 casos confirmados, 10,238 confirmados activos y 29,028 sospechosos por #COVID19. Se han registrado 89,631 negativos, 4,767 defunciones confirmadas, 462 defunciones sospechosas y fueron estudiadas 163,691 personas. 1/3 pic.twitter.com/eBJoiTCKPT

— Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez (@HLGatell) May 16, 2020

Mexican health officials revealed that since the start of the pandemic, they have only carried out 163,691 tests in government hospitals and clinics nationwide. Because of the low number of tests and the way that cases are recorded, numerous politicians have accused Lopez Gatell of cooking the books to give the appearance that Mexico is containing the pandemic.

The figures released by Mexican health officials surpass the most recent figures released by China, where the virus first appeared. Chinese reports only account for 4,637 fatalities and 82,941 cases. The Chinese government is also widely accused of lying about the number of cases and fatalities since the virus first appeared in the Wuhan province.

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.