Mexican health officials confirmed the continuing rise in the number of fatalities resulting from the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). In a single day, officials documented 40 fatalities bringing the new total to 273 since the start of the pandemic in Mexico.

Officials released the new death toll and other statistics pertaining to the pandemic during a streamed nightly news conference in Mexico City. The new information places the current number of confirmed cases at 4,219 since the virus first reached Mexico.

Undersecretary of Health Hugo Lopez Gatell said several times that the country’s epidemiologists are using a factor of 8.2 to multiply the number of confirmed cases to reach their estimate of cases for all of Mexico. He explained that as the pandemic progresses the factor will be adjusted. Mexican health officials have only tested 35,479 cases in total.

During the news conference, health officials revealed that there are 9,983 suspicious cases that are undergoing testing to determine or disprove if the patient suffers from coronavirus. Lopez Gatell and his staff claimed that in most of the 273 fatalities, the patients suffered from an underlying health condition such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, OCPD, and others.

As the number of cases continues to climb, health officials ask the public to remain indoors in an attempt to curb the rise in infections. Several medical workers, law enforcement officials, and military personnel have become infected and some died from COVID-19. Officials believe that in the coming weeks Mexico will reach a new phase of the pandemic and the number of cases will rise exponentially.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.

Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report