•PROJECTION: Coronavirus will end up being the leading cause of death in Mexico in 2020 according to new estimates by the Institute of Metrics and Health Assessment (IHME) at the University of Washington which currently forecasts 120,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths.
•CAUSES: Like in many other countries, Mexico’s leading cause of death in 2019 were cardiovascular diseases. Last week, IHME estimated that weekly coronavirus deaths in Mexico (3,229) have already surpassed weekly heart disease deaths (2,044).
•COMMUNICATION: “I don’t think they (in Mexico) will accept that Covid-19 will be the first cause of death. (We) do say so. Communicating this fact will not be easy,” said Rafael Lozano, IHME’s director of health systems. The institute presented its most updated forecast last week.
•NUMBERS: As of late Tuesday, Mexico has officially reported 1,060,152 coronavirus cases and 102,739 deaths. Mexico City accounts for a 16% share of total confirmed cases. Mexico is the fourth country in the world with the most coronavirus deaths in absolute terms.
