(ANSA) - ROME, MARCH 28 - The death toll of the coronavirus in Mexico has been 'corrected' upwards by the government, resulting in 60 percent higher than what has been reported so far: there have been 321,000 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic, a figure that will rise the country ranks second in the ranking of most affected after the United States, the first in relation to the number of inhabitants.
The new toll exceeds that of Brazil (310,550 according to Johns Hopkins), currently in second place for number of deaths after the USA.
But Mexico's population of 126 million is far smaller than that of both countries. The new Mexican government report also confirms how lethal the second wave of pandemic was in January.
In the whole of 2020, according to the data released at the end of December, the excess death estimates suggested a total of about 220,000 deaths related to Covid.
That number jumped about 75,000 in just a month and a half.
The "excess deaths" since the beginning of the pandemic, determined "by comparing the deaths in the period with those expected on the basis of data from previous years" were approximately 417,000.
A review of the death certificates found that in about 70.5% of cases Covid had been indicated as a suspected cause or cause of aggravation of pre-existing diseases.
This means that the pandemic has also helped to increase mortality from other diseases, reducing access to treatment with full hospitals.
(HANDLE).