A sign above crowds of people in a street in Mexico City, Mexico, warning to "avoid masses" and keep distance from others during a nationwide, 12-day shopping event that's running through Nov. 20, designed to stimulate the economy. Photo: Cristopher Rogel Blanquet/Getty Images
Mexico surpassed 1 million coronavirus cases and over 98,200 deaths from COVID-19 late Saturday, per Johns Hopkins data.
Driving the news: Mexican health officials have focused on testing the seriously ill and conducted only about 2.5 million COVID-19 tests in total — representing 1.9% of the population, AP reports.
- The relatively small amount of tests makes contact tracing and identifying outbreaks or asymptomatic cases early difficult.
- The government has not followed other internationally accepted practices during the pandemic management, including the wearing of face masks and restrictions, AP notes.
Of note: Mexico has reported the fourth-highest number of deaths from COVID-19 in the world, after India, Brazil and the U.S.
Zoom in: Mexico City is a coronavirus epicenter. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum announced Friday that bars would shut for 15 days and businesses including restaurants and gyms must close earlier in an effort to curb the spread, per Al Jazeera.
By the numbers: Per Johns Hopkins, Mexico is the 11th country to exceed 1 million cases. The others are:
- The U.S. (over 10.9 million)
- India (over 8.7 million)
- Brazil (5.8 million-plus)
- France (more than 1.9 million)
- Russia (nearly 1.9 million)
- Spain (over 1.4 million)
- United Kingdom (1.3 million-plus)
- Argentina (more than 1.3 million)
- Colombia (nearly 1.2. million)
- Italy (over 1.1 million)
Go deeper: Mexicans offered little coronavirus aid as death and economic tolls climb