Mexican health officials recorded 1,510 cases of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). To date, 50 have died as a direct result.

Federal health officials in Mexico City released the new statistics during a daily streamed conference. The number of cases jumped by 132 new confirmed patients from 1,378 cases on Wednesday to 1,510 on Thursday night. The fatalities also rose by 13.

The latest figures revealed that Mexico has 4,653 suspicious cases under testing.

During the news conference, a journalist from Tamaulipas asked about the growing petition to shut down major border crossings.

Undersecretary of Health Hugo Lopez Gatell doubled-down on previous statements that such isolationist measures do not contain the spread of the virus.

“There is no scientific basis, even historical basis that those measures have any benefit,” Lopez Gatell said.

Much like in feudal times when an invading army approached, communities would shelter behind the city walls, a psychological response is the same with a virus, however–it doesn’t work the same way since the city needs supplies from outside of those walls to maintain itself, he said.

“There is no practical use for it,” Lopez Gatell said. “There is no current plan to close the borders because there is no benefit … it would have a negative effect on supplies and the economy and do little to stop the virus.”

During the conference, Lopez Gatell did ask Mexican nationals living in the U.S. colloquially known as “paisanos” to not return because in their travels they could bring the virus to their loved ones.

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