Mexico becomes fifth-hardest hit country by pandemic, surpassing France

Mexico's death toll from the new coronavirus rose to 30,366 Saturday, propelling it past France to become the country with the fifth-highest number of fatalities in the global pandemic, according to the health ministry. 

"As of today, 30,366 people who had tested positive for COVID-19 in the laboratory have died," Jose Luis Alomia, national director of the Department of Epidemiology of the Ministry of Health, told a press conference.

The U.S. now remains the hardest-hit country in the world, followed by Brazil, the UK and Italy, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The Mexican health ministry also reported 6,914 new infections and a total of 252,165 confirmed cases. But officials warned the actual number of infected was probably significantly higher.

"We knew from the beginning that the cases we report here do not represent the total number of people with COVID-19 in Mexico," said Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez Gatell.