Mexico?is struggling to keep coronavirus in check as cases surged past 200,000 and death toll crossed 25,000 on Thursday. The grim milestone of fatalities has left the country staring at severe health crisis.? ??
As per AP, the treasury secretary of the government?also tested positive and is now self-isolating while working from home.
The Health Department reported 6,104 newly confirmed infections, one of the highest 24-hour counts so far. That brought the country's confirmed cases to 202,951. Deaths increased by 736, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 25,060. Only Brazil and the United States have higher death tolls in the Americas.
Treasury Secretary Arturo Herrera said he had only minor symptoms and planned to self-isolate as he continued to work from home. It was unclear how recently he was in close contact with President Andr¨¦s Manuel L¨®pez Obrador, who refuses to use a face mask and has resumed public tours across Mexico.
Herrera is the country's highest-ranking Cabinet member to be infected so far. Previously, the head of the Mexican Social Security Institute tested positive but later returned to work. Several state governors have also acknowledged testing positive.
The problems are only mounting for Mexico, which recently recorded a magnitude 7.4 earthquake, sending the country into a shock.?As of yesterday, death count from a powerful quake that struck southern Mexico has risen to seven.
The 7.4-magnitude earthquake, which was followed by more than 1,500 aftershocks, was felt in Mexico City, some 700 kilometers (430 miles) away from the epicenter in Oaxaca.
It sent people fleeing their homes and workplaces, and even forced the closure of an oil refinery.
Earlier, the national civil protection coordinator, David Leon, said 23 people have been injured in the quake.
Mexican Oil said its refinery in Salina Cruz in Oaxaca had been shut down as a precaution after a fire broke out at the plant "that was immediately stifled."
One of the dead from the earthquake was a worker at the refinery, who was killed after falling off a high structure.