Mexico tops 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, 4th country to do so

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico passed the 100,000 mark in confirmed COVID-19 deaths, becoming only the fourth country to do so amid concerns about the lingering physical and psychological scars on survivors.

José Luis Alomía Zegarra, Mexico’s director of epidemiology, announced late Thursday that Mexico had 100,104 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, behind only the United States, Brazil and India.

Mexico’s number includes only test-confirmed deaths; the true toll is far higher. In late October, a government study of excess mortality found that a total of about 140,000 deaths this year were probably attributable to the new coronavirus, a number that has only grown since then.

The milestone came less than a week after Mexico topped 1 million registered coronavirus infections, though officials agree that number is also probably much higher because of low levels of testing.

Coverage of the back-to-back milestones has raised the hackles of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who suggested Friday that criticism of the country’s pandemic polices are political attacks and compared critics to “vultures.” His administration has cast doubt on the usefulness of face masks — the president almost never wears one — and has defended its low rate of testing. ...

The lack of hospitals in some areas and fears of the ones that do exist, along with low levels of testing, has created a breeding ground for ignorance, suspicion and fear....