Mexico becomes just fourth country to surpass 100,000 coronavirus deaths

Mexico this week surpassed 100,000 fatalities from COVID-19, becoming only the fourth country in the world to reach the grim milestone.

José Luis Alomía Zegarra, Mexico’s director of epidemiology, announced on Thursday that the country had 100,104 confirmed deaths from COVID-19, The Associated Press reported, following only the United States, Brazil and India worldwide.

Mexico last week confirmed 1 million cases of COVID-19 in the country. However, officials have warned that the number could be higher due to low levels of testing, according to the AP.

Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell criticized reporters when asked about Mexico reaching 100,000 fatalities, the outlet reported.

“The epidemic is terrible in itself, you don’t have to add drama to it,” López-Gatell said, accusing the media of “being alarmist.”

“Putting statistics on the front page doesn’t, in my view, help much,” he said.

Mexico’s president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has been criticized by some for downplaying the spread of the virus and his handling of the pandemic, according to multiple reports.

Mexico has performed approximately 2.5 million COVID-19 tests, the AP reported. The country’s capital, Mexico City, has been hit hardest amid the ongoing pandemic, documenting more than 183,200 COVID-19 cases. Nuevo León, Sonora and other areas in the country have also documented tens of thousands of cases.