Mexico City, Apr 27 (AP) The Mexican government said Tuesday that COVID-19 has passed from a pandemic to an endemic stage in Mexico, meaning authorities will treat it as a seasonally recurring disease.

Mexico never enforced face mask requirements, and the few partial shutdowns of businesses and activities were lifted weeks ago.

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“It is now retreating almost completely,” said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

New case numbers have declined. But that may be because Mexico, which never did much testing, is now offering even fewer tests.

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Daily death rates have also dropped sharply.

Mexico has recorded almost 325,000 test-confirmed deaths, but government reviews of death certificates suggest the real toll is almost 490,000.

About 90 per cent of adult Mexicans have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)