Unaccounted Cases: Mexico's COVID-19 Cases Are 30 Times Higher Than Reported, Experts Say

By Neil P. First Posted: Apr 28, 2020 11:42 PM EDT

Experts say that the number of COVID-19 cases in Mexico is 30 times higher than the reported data, which makes Mexico second to the United States.

COVID-19 Cases in Mexico

The number of COVID-19 cases in the world has reached more than 3 million and claimed the lives of more than 217,000, according to worldometers. The number of infected persons does not include those who were not diagnosed by the hospitals.

In Mexico, there are approximately 16,752 cases and a death toll of more than 1,500 as of today. They are below Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador in Latin America. However, Mexico has the highest ratio of COVID-19 cases and the death toll in the region, according to Statista.

Across the globe, the United States still has the highest number of COVID-19 cases that have already reached more than 1 million and claimed the lives of more than 59,000. Spain follows them with more than 232,000 and a death toll of more than 23,000, according to worldometers.

COVID-19 Cases in Mexico is 30 Times Higher Than the Reported Data

Experts say that the real picture of COVID-19 cases in Mexico is 30 times higher than the reported cases. This means that if the number of cases is multiplied by 30, that gives a picture of more than 380,000.

This simply means that Mexico is second to the United States around the globe. This was also supported by Mexico's Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez Gatell but in another figure.

Gatell said that to get an idea of the number of COVID-19 cases in the country, cases should be multiplied by eight. That means that there will be approximately 134,016, which makes Mexico as the 7th country with the highest COVID-19 cases and putting them 1st in Latin America.

Either it should be multiplied by 30 or eight, Gatell said that many unaccounted cases in Mexico are related to COVID-19. The growing number of symptomatic persons forced some hospitals to turn away those patients without being correctly diagnosed.

COVID-19 Cases That Were Not Counted in the Country

The severe acute respiratory syndrome has spiked to 50 percent this season compared to the data last year. This means that the present figure of COVID-19 cases in Mexico is far too low.

Alejandro Macias, the former national commissioner for influenza in Mexico during the H1N1 outbreak, said that there is no doubt that the jump of COVID-19 cases this year is expected, and this is because of the flu is on its way out this time of year.

It is a common knowledge to everyone that COVID-19 is a respiratory disease. This is the reason why experts questioned the strategy of the Mexican government of selecting only as to who will be tested for the virus.

Those who have severe acute respiratory syndrome were not tested, and the experts described this situation as "Mexico is walking blindly through the woods."

Dr. Jose Luis Alomia, Director-General of Epidemiology at the Health Ministry, agreed as well that there is evidence that COVID-19 has taken the place of the flu since the country monitors flu cases in the country every year.

Health officials were not surprised when the severe acute respiratory syndrome has spiked to 59,440 during the first week of April and 67,397 a week after. Experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico or UNAM already warned the peak of COVID-19 using two epidemiological models that are also used in the United States, Italy, and Russia.

Carlos del Rio, an epidemiologist at Emory University in Atlanta, said: "It's possible that those so-called cases of influenza are in reality Covid-19."