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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s coronavirus tsar has been hospitalized in the past five days for COVID-19 treatment but is recovering well, a health official said on Sunday, as the country marks the first anniversary of his first confirmed infection.
Hugo Lopez-Gatell, the face of Mexico’s response to the pandemic, has drawn criticism for downplaying the need for masks and for conducting a strategy of limited testing.
Mexico has recorded 185,715 deaths from the coronavirus, making it the fourth-highest death toll in the world from the pandemic, according to a Reuters tally.
Lopez-Gatell was admitted for “early hospitalization” last Wednesday after his medical team determined he needed supplemental oxygen, said Ruy Lopez, head of the National Center for Prevention and Control Programs. diseases (Cenaprece).
“He has made good progress and we hope he can be released from the hospital tomorrow,” Lopez said at a press conference.
The epidemiologist announced a positive test for COVID-19 on February 20, after experiencing mild symptoms.
A number of senior Mexican officials have contracted the virus, including President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who has avoided face masks.
Mexico recorded 458 more coronavirus deaths and 2,810 other confirmed infections on Sunday, for a total of 2,086,938 cases. The government says the actual number of people infected is likely much higher than the confirmed cases.
(Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon and Sharay Angulo; Editing by Lisa Shumaker, Diane Craft and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
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