Juárez now has 406 of the 501 total virus deaths in Chihuahua state

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- Chihuahua state leaders began looking at the re-openings of more businesses shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, even as deaths and new cases continued at an unbroken pace.

According to northern zone health officials, the city of Juárez posted 18 new coronavirus deaths and 13 additional cases on Tuesday.

Juárez has now recorded 406 of the 501 deaths in the state that have occurred to date and accounts for 1,868 of the confirmed infections in the state, which total 3,112.

Health officials have said the region is on a sort of a plateau and there is no clear evidence of any sustained decrease in cases, but they did note Tuesday that hospitalizations "trend towards stabilization."

As a result, Chihuahua Gov. Javier Corral said the state would be moving from a "red light" to "orange light" status, which would allow for preparation for the limited lifting of some closures.

However he noted that school activities, museums, theaters, churches, indoor sports centers, cinemas and cultural centers, bars, nightclubs, casinos and businesses within shopping centers would all remain suspended under the orange setting because they pose the greatest risk for high concentrations of people gathering.

In addition, health leaders stressed that people should continue complying with sanitary measures like face masks, using hand sanitizing gel and keeping a safe distance from others.

Across all of Mexico on Tuesday, total confirmed cases stood at 154,863 and deaths were up to 18,310. Experts say both numbers are clearly under-counts.