MEXICO CITY, July 4 (Sputnik) - Mexico confirmed nearly 7,000 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours and over 500 new coronavirus-related deaths, with the country’s total COVID-19 death toll now being the fifth largest in the world, according to Health Ministry data.

"As of today, 30,366 fatalities among patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 have been confirmed," Jose Luis Alomia, the director of epidemiology at Mexico’s Ministry of Health, said during a Saturday press conference, broadcast on Twitter.

According to Alomia, Mexico registered 6,914 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours and 523 new COVID-19 fatalities.
Thus, Mexico has become the country with the fifth-largest coronavirus death toll, surpassing France, which has 29,896 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University. The United States has the highest COVID-19 death toll of over 129,600; it is followed by Brazil, the United Kingdom and Italy.

Mexico has a total of 252,165 confirmed coronavirus cases. Some media reports have suggested that the Mexican government could be downplaying the coronavirus figures with Mexican health authorities only reporting cases and deaths confirmed in labs.