Yucatán still struggles as COVID cases decline nationally

Mexico’s health undersecretary has declared the country’s coronavirus crisis on the wane, but Yucatán is lagging by any measure.

“The 32 states are now showing a clear trend in the reduction of cases,” the official, Hugo López-Gatell, said Tuesday.

Nationally, daily cases have declined 35% in the last 14 days. But in Yucatán, that drop is by 10% at best.

Even neighboring Quintana Roo, a tourist-dense state along the Caribbean coast, is seeing more favorable numbers. Its 14-day decline in new infections is at 52%.

Yucatán is in step with the nation, however, when counting fatalities. About 0.40 deaths per day per 100,000 people have been counted in the last 10 days nationally compared with 0.44 in the state.

A map, adapted by Yucatán Magazine from a state health ministry graphic, shows no municipality untouched by the coronavirus pandemic.

The numbers were gathered by the New York Times using data collected by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. It often varies from immediate data gathered by government officials and later adjusted after further study.

Yucatán’s daily health briefings have shown a steady rise in cases since August. Daily infections have ranged between 281 and 299, roughly 40 or 50 more each day than a month before.

Mexico City’s daily infection decline has exceeded the national average, down 41% in two weeks. Campeche, Nuevo León and San Luis Potosí are down 42%, according to the Times report.

Almost 70% of the adult population in Mexico has had at least one dose of vaccine, according to government data.

López-Gatell also said that hospitalizations of COVID patients have declined, mirroring Yucatán’s reports that public hospital beds are occupied by 266 patients as of Wednesday, compared with 22 more two weeks earlier.

Lee Steele
Lee Steele
Lee Steele is the founding director of Roof Cat Media and has published Yucatán Magazine and other titles since 2012.
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