TIJUANA (Border Report) — After seeing a steady decline in recent weeks, the big three cities in Baja California, a state that sits just south of the border from California, are experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases once again.
And in the last 24 hours, 22 people reportedly died from complications stemming from COVID-19.
The city of Tijuana now has almost 6,000 confirmed cases with a reported 1,399 deaths since the pandemic began.
In Mexicali, the state’s capital, 8,597 cases have been reported along with 1,529 deaths. This is according to the state’s Secretary of Health, which updates figures throughout the day.
In the last 30 days, 304 people have reportedly died, about 3 percent of the total number of deaths in the state.
“Our older adults are the most vulnerable when you look at the people who have died; 54 percent were above the age of 60. We need to keep looking out for this segment of the population,” said Alonso Pérez Rico, the state secretary of health.
Pérez Rico announced that right now about 24 percent of people hospitalized are COVID-19 patients.
“The pandemic is not over and it’s important to continue with sanitary measures such as using mouth covers and maintaining social distance,” he said.
According to Pérez Rico, Baja California is ranks 12 in coronavirus cases among Mexican states and is No. 5 in terms of deaths. He stated 158 children have tested positive with 13 “losing the battle to the virus.”