COVID-19 epidemic in Mexico could last until next April: top health official

MEXICO CITY - The coronavirus epidemic in Mexico could last until next April, with infections expected to rise during the October flu season and through winter, Mexico's Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell told local media on Monday.

"Flu season begins in October and there are some reasonable assumptions that we could also have a spike in COVID-19 along with the flu throughout the fall-to-winter season," the minister was quoted as saying, adding that the epidemic in Mexico could last "until March to April of next year."

The Latin American country has registered 261,750 confirmed cases in total, with 31,119 overall deaths, putting it in fifth place worldwide in terms of fatalities from COVID-19, according to the latest Johns Hopkins University tally.

Lopez-Gatell has continually reviewed forecasts about when the crisis would peak, and said the death toll and infection tally are likely higher than reported figures.

The University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimated that Mexico will report more than 88,000 deaths from the epidemic by October.