Mexico reports 2,192 new coronavirus deaths after data review

A woman kisses a candle in memory of her grandmother to be placed at a memorial wall set up outside the Basilica of Guadalupe by Catholics for all who have died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) so far in Mexico, in Mexico City, Mexico April 10, 2021. REUTERS/Luis Cortes

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s government on Saturday reported 2,192 new confirmed coronavirus deaths, one of its biggest one-day tolls during the pandemic, after consolidating data from last year to include deaths that were not confirmed at the time.

The figure was far above the daily averages reported by the health ministry in recent weeks.

Mexico’s health ministry said two-thirds of the 2,192 deaths reported on Saturday occurred in 2020 and at the time were not marked down as coronavirus fatalities. They were subsequently reviewed by experts.

“They went through an adjudication process and can now be conferred as deaths by COVID,” Gabriela del Carmen Nucamendi Cervantes, director of epidemiological surveillance of non-communicable diseases at the health ministry, said during a news conference.

The updated figures took Mexico’s total coronavirus death tally to 209,212, the fourth-highest in the world after the United States, Brazil and Russia.

The Mexican government previously has said the real case numbers are likely significantly higher, and separate data published recently by the health ministry suggested the actual death toll may be at least 60% above the confirmed figure.

The health ministry on Saturday also reported 6,356 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, taking the country’s total to 2,278,420 infections.