Mexico Says COVID-19 Deaths Likely 60 Percent Higher Than Confirmed Toll

Funeral and crematorium employees work on a coffin carrying the body of a person who died from the coronavirus disease at San Isidro crematory in Mexico City, Mexico, on May 21, 2020. Carlos Jasso/Reuters

MEXICO CITY—Mexico’s death toll from the coronavirus pandemic is likely at least 60 percent higher than the confirmed number, putting it in excess of 300,000, according to government data.

Updated figures on excess mortality in a table published by Mexico’s Health Ministry showed that by the end of the sixth week of this year, 294,287 fatalities “associated with COVID-19” had been registered on death certificates in Mexico.