Crematorium workers burn the coffins of COVID-19 victims after they have been cremated at the San Nicolas Tolentino cemetery in the Iztapalapa neighborhood of Mexico City, Wednesday, June 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico confirmed 947 more COVID-19 deaths Wednesday, the country’s second-highest daily toll since the coronavirus pandemic began. The highest daily toll came June 3 with 1,092 deaths.
The Health Department said the country has seen a total of 24,324 deaths so far.
The number of confirmed cases rose by 5,437. The case load has increased by about 5,000 each day in the last two weeks, and the total now stands at 186,847.
The numbers are clearly an undercount, given Mexico’s very low rate of testing.
Mexican officials have repeatedly predicted the peak of the pandemic had been reached, or would do so soon, only to be proved wrong.
The Health Department’s epidemiology director, José Luis Alomía, used almost comically couched language Wednesday, saying the country is on “a slight tendency that may insinuate a descent” in infections.
Because the case load continues so high, authorities have had to delay planned re-openings of theaters and concert halls.
One of Mexico City’s biggest venues, the Arena Mexico, announced Wednesday that it will start drive-in movie screenings starting July 4.
Mexico City once had drive-ins, but most closed years ago. One company resumed outdoor screenings in 2011.
