The magnitude of the pandemic is underestimated in Mexico, says WHO

The scale of the COVID-19 pandemic is “underestimated” and “little recognized” in Mexico, according to Mike Ryan, director of the Department of Health Emergencies of the World Health Organization (WHO).

During a press conference in Geneva, Dr. Ryan said this is due to the low number of tests carried out in the country.

“The tests are limited to three per 100,000 people per day, compared to more than 150 per 100,000 people in the United States,” he said.

According to his statements, the specialist pointed out that in Mexico the percentage of tests that are positive is 50%, “which means that many people are not well diagnosed or are diagnosed late.”

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For this reason, Dr. Ryan has said that the country must increase testing to have a realistic view of the situation, where there are currently 549 thousand 734 confirmed cases and 59 thousand 610 deaths.

Another worrying aspect that the specialist highlighted is about the marked differences in mortality between the elderly and the poor.

According to available data, in Mexico, low-income people, along with the indigenous population, are five times more likely to die than the more affluent.

Test validation

On the other hand, the organization reported that it is in the process of validating a rapid antigen test for the detection of COVID-19.

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Jean-Marc Gabastou, representative of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), WHO regional office for America, said that the new rapid test will speed up the referral of patients to nearby hospital units.

“In summary, we are expanding and diversifying the response capacity through a quality tool, which is laboratory diagnosis, and two: we are expanding that capacity at the territorial level with full coverage, and here we are talking about the communities and the indigenous population, which is a great concern of the region, we are equipping the country with the capacities to respond, ”said the PAHO / WHO representative.