Juárez tops 500 virus deaths while Mexico sees youngest victims from infection surge

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico -- Chihuahua state health officials said the city of Juárez topped 500 total coronavirus deaths on Saturday, and added over 500 additional virus cases for the week.

Juárez recorded seven new deaths to bring the cumulative number of virus fatalities to 502. The city also had 32 new cases reported Saturday for a total of 571 for the week and 2,595 to date since the start of the pandemic.

Nationwide, Mexico’s confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 208,392 as of Saturday, and the confirmed death toll reached 25,779.

Both case and death numbers are considered significant under-counts due to Mexico’s very low levels of testing.

As Mexico’s virus cases continue to mount, officials this week added their youngest infections to the tally when triplets tested positive for the virus on the day they were born.

Monica Rangel, the health secretary of the northern state of San Luis Potosi, said the triplets were born to a mother who was also positive but asymptomatic.

Rangel said the triplets are not believed to be in danger. She said the case was being studied to see whether the triplets were infected before or after birth was being conducted, but said it appeared improbable they could have been infected outside the womb so quickly.

It is not the first time newborns have tested positive for the virus, but it is rare.