Parts of Mexico have run out of death certificates as the country’s death toll from the coronavirus continues to soar, according to reports.
Health officials said Baja California, the State of Mexico and Mexico City began running out of the certificates two weeks ago.
One million new certificates have been printed and are being distributed, they said. The certificates include special characteristics because falsification has been a problem in the past.
Mexico has suffered the fourth-highest level of COVID-19 deaths in the world. Only the U.S., Brazil and India have had more virus deaths.
On Friday, the number of confirmed cases in Mexico rose by 6,196 to 623,090, while deaths rose by 522 to 66,851. Cases appear to have plateaued and are no longer decreasing. Testing in Mexico has lagged.
Mexico’s death toll from the disease may be an undercount, according to reports.
New government figures show deaths in Mexico from March to August from all causes were 122,765 more than what would be expected in a normal year, Bloomberg News reported.
Funerals are being delayed because of the lack of death certificates, The Wall Sreet Journal reported.
“I receive calls from doctors almost daily asking me to help them to get more death certificates,” said Carlos Aranza, the State of Mexico’s coordinator of health services, told the Journal. “We are going through a period of great scarcity.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.