With Testing Already Low, Mexico Lost 93,803 Covid Lab Results

(Bloomberg) -- Mexico has lost or discarded 93,803 results of Covid-19 tests throughout the pandemic, health officials said, reducing the nation's already low levels of testing for the virus.

The reasons behind the lost results vary. Some never made it to the lab from clinics and some weren't properly refrigerated or took too long to be processed, said Health Ministry epidemiology director Jose Luis Alomia at a Tuesday evening press conference.

Medical experts and international bodies like the United Nations have challenged Mexico's reduced testing, which has led the country to a 41% positivity rate, the second highest in the world according to Our World in Data. The Latin-American nation has foregone wide-scale exams, and instead the government runs them only on sick patients.

The lost results account for about 5% of total tests. As of Tuesday, Mexico had notified 1,935,334 people of their results, Alomia said.

Mexico has 738,163 confirmed cases, very close to Argentina's 736,609. Yet Mexico's death toll at 77,163 is almost five times that of the South American country, which stands at 16,519.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.