Residents not staying home, ‘going out’ blamed for Juarez spike in virus cases, deaths

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- Chihuahua state health officials on Friday reported the state's highest peak of infections, and said the record number was partly to blame on the "relaxation of health measures" and "people deciding to go out."

"This (pandemic) is not over, we must become aware," stressed Dr. Arturo Valenzuela, the northern zone medical director for Mexico. "If we go out, if we relax our precautions, things like this happen."

Chihuahua state on Friday had 116 new confirmed cases, the highest number since the pandemic began, and 8 additional deaths related to the virus Friday.

Of those numbers, most of the new cases (98) and deaths (7) were attributed to the city of Juarez.

To date, there have now been 2,306 cases in Chihuahua state and 386 deaths. Juarez accounts for 1,451 of the state’s total cases and 313 of the state’s deaths.

Dr. Valenzuela also noted that even with the spike reported Friday, the actual number of those infected is likely higher due to a lack of testing.

"Surely more individuals will have been infected, some will become seriously ill and of these, perhaps some could even lose their lives," he warned, and then reiterated his point about the need for residents to stay home and to socially distance when they do need to go out.

“We cannot be irresponsible, we cannot afford to relax right now, because that ultimately affects life or death of a person," he said.