Mexico City, August 15 (RHC)-- Hugo Lopez-Gatell, Mexico's point man for the coronavirus pandemic, said he thinks the country reached its peak of infections over the last three weeks.

"We have now had a maximum point in the curve," the assistant health secretary said, while also predicting that second waves of infections would continue occurring around the world for some time.

The Mexican health official noted: "This is a phenomenon that is going to be with us in the whole world for several years."  Lopez-Gatell had had previously wrongly predicted that infections would peak in May and June.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Mexico rose by 5,618 on Friday to reach 511,369. The health department reported 615 newly confirmed deaths from COVID-19, bringing the country's total deaths to 55,908.