Two new coronavirus strains were found in Yucatán as a 23-year-old Kanasín woman was among Sunday’s youngest fatalities, state authorities said.
The Brazil and California variants, which are more contagious but no more lethal than previously detected COVID-19 strains, arrived in April. Its presence explains an atypical growth in new cases, authorities said.
The state health ministry speculated that the strains arrived from tourists crossing from the neighboring state of Quintana Roo. The Cancún airport is the second-busiest travel hub in Mexico.
No deaths have been connected to patients with the two COVID-19 variants.
The ministry indicated that these variants add to the British strain, which was also detected in April by the Institute of Epidemiological Diagnosis and Reference.
The Yucatán health ministry on Sunday reported 322 hospitalizations, up by six in one day. Home quarantines reached 2,072, growing by 16 in the past 24 hours.
New infections totaled 233. The governor said patients are trending younger, mainly from their 30s to 50s.
Nine new fatalities brought Yucatán’s deadly tally to 4,400 — including 381 from outside the state — since the pandemic reached the Peninsula. Most fatalities still involve comorbidities such as obesity or hypertension.
Patients range in age from 1 to 107 years old.
