Mexico records deadliest coronavirus week yet with 7,000 deaths

Paramedic Daniel Reyes waits outside the hospital with a 63-year-old patient, who suffers from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and is inside the ambulance while waiting for a free bed, as hospitals are fully occupied during the continued outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mexico City, Mexico January 13, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

Mexico has registered its worst week yet of the pandemic, with a record number of infections from the new coronavirus and more than 7,000 COVID-19 deaths, government data showed on Saturday.

There were 20,523 new coronavirus cases and 1,219 more fatalities on Saturday, pushing total confirmed infections to 1,630,258 and deaths to 140,241, the Health Ministry said.

For the week ending Saturday, Mexico recorded more than 7,000 deaths for the first time, while posting over 106,200 new cases.

Mexico's real number of infected people and deaths is likely significantly higher than the official count, the government has said, because of a lack of widespread testing.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; Editing by Daniel Wallis and William Mallard)