Mexican health officials announced 132 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on Friday as the new totals reach 717 confirmed cases and 12 fatalities. Five medical care providers also became infected while treating patients of the pandemic.

Officials released the new information during a streamed news conference where they also revealed that currently, Mexico has 2,475 possible cases that are in the process of being tested.

In the last two weeks, Mexico witnessed a dramatic rise in confirmed cases. Cases rose from only 26 cases being reported on March 13 to the current 717 cases. The rise in cases comes at a time when Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been harshly criticized worldwide for his off-hand comments minimizing the pandemic as he holds public events where he has kissed babies and hugged fans, Breitbart Texas reported.

During the news conference, Victor Hugo Borja, Mexico’s Director for Health Benefits confirmed that five medical workers with the country’s federal health care system had contracted the virus. However, the official tried to downplay the issue by claiming that most of the cases in Mexico are travel related.

The confirmation of the sick healthcare workers comes at a time when doctors and nurses throughout Mexico protested the lack of protective equipment at government clinics.

On Friday afternoon, three border state governors called on the Mexican federal government to restrict U.S. citizens from crossing into Mexico claiming their neighbor to the north has become the new epicenter for the pandemic, Breitbart Texas reported.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.     

Tony Aranda from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report