Coronavirus: Mexico becomes fifth-hardest hit country, surpassing France

Mexico has become the fifth hardest-hit country as the death toll from the novel coronavirus rose to 30,366 Saturday, propelling it past France in the global pandemic, according to the health ministry.

"As of today, 30,366 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 in the laboratory have died," Jose Luis Alomia, national director of the Department of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health, told a press conference.

The US remains the country with more number of cases and fatalities in the world, followed by Brazil, Britain and Italy, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Alomia also reported 252,165 confirmed cases of the virus, with the number of infections rising by 6,914 since Friday -- a record daily figure since COVID-19 reached Mexico.

Also read: More than 17,000 die in Mexico from coronavirus

The Latin American country, with 127 million inhabitants, had surpassed Spain in the number of deaths last Wednesday.

In the Americas, the epicenter of the pandemic, it is the third-most affected country after the US and Brazil. 

At the end of May, Hugo Lopez Gatell, the deputy health minister in charge of the fight against the pandemic, told AFP in an interview that if containment measures were not taken, the number of deaths could rise to about 30,000. 

Also read: Mexico steps up border checks to keep coronavirus at bay over July 4 holiday

Mexico City, the capital, is the urban center most affected by the disease -- but that has not prevented municipal authorities from starting a partial economic reopening at the beginning of July. 

(With inputs from AFP)