This is an older news article dated Aug, 8, 2020. It explains how the infections and deaths are drastically being underreported and the mayor confirms this. Here is the link for the full article if you are interested even though It's old. I also read on another site that 3 weeks ago Dr. Felix reported 1400 cases. So 10 percent death rate would be 140. The scribble map has not been used or updated for awhile so I am not sure where Dr. Felix is posting the numbers at.
www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2020/08/08/puerto-penasco-beaches-reopen-heavy-restrictions/3312241001/
Do official numbers undercount cases?
One of Puerto Peñasco's main selling points to draw visitors, and to push for a faster reopening strategy, is the number of reported COVID-19 cases in the city.
As of Thursday night, the Sonora Health Ministry reported 87 confirmed cases and 12 deaths.
But those numbers are a drastic undercount of what's happening on the ground, according to Iván Munguía Felix, a private physician in Puerto Peñasco and a member of the mayor's pandemic response task force.
He created an unofficial map to track infections in the city. It shows more than 270 infections in the city, more than three times the official numbers. He said there are about 300 more cases he hasn't added to the map. In all, he estimates there are about 500 unofficial cases.
"I'm gathering this information from all logbooks from the busiest labs in the city, and from other fellow doctors," he said. "When I started mapping it out I saw that our number is much more different than what government officials reported."
Munguía Felix started tracking cases after catching COVID-19 himself. He said public hospitals in the city are full and don't have tests. They have been sending infected patients to bigger cities given a lack of funding from the state and federal government.
That's how he believes he caught the virus, from an untested family member of an infected patient sent to Nogales.
Munguía Felix was hospitalized for 27 days, in serious condition. He credited his recovery to his brother, who is also a doctor, and a medical team that flew in from Mexico City to treat him.
When his condition improved, he resumed his private practice, doing virtual appointments instead. But Munguía Felix also continued tracking cases. His map assigns a color to each neighborhood to assess the risk.
It shows that the areas most visited by tourists, such as the Malecón and resorts, are in green, the safest level, while high transit neighborhoods away from the beaches are in red, indicating the greatest risk.
"Businesses and hotels there are enforcing measures like tests, temperature checks, scanners, all these measures and they've been able to quickly detect and treat cases," he said, citing it as an example that the city's safety measures are working.
The problem, he said, has been resistance in inland neighborhoods to the safety protocols and growing fatigue with masks and social distancing.
Munguía Felix said he tried reporting the cases to state and federal officials to adjust their numbers. They wouldn't accept them because they did not come from within their own labs or hospitals, he said.
"That's why I developed that map, because the (federal) government is not doing things well, and the state government isn't, either, because they depend on what the federal government sends them, and ultimately, they're the ones in charge," he said.
Munro, Puerto Peñasco's mayor, acknowledged the official case count is based on what the state and federal government reported.
He said the city has stepped in to help residents. In addition to the call center, they offer free testing and even free medication to treat the symptoms of those who test positive.
"What is most concerning isn't the confirmed cases, but the mortality rate, which is at around 10 percent," he said. "That is very worrying," especially for residents who have underlying health conditions, he added.
Munro urged residents at higher risk to stay home, and asked everyone, including visitors, to continue following the safety protocols, especially the use of masks.
