MEXICO CITY: Mexico's health ministry on Wednesday reported 17,944 new confirmed cases of coronavirus infection and 1,623 additional fatalities.

The country's total cases were 1,806,849 with overal deaths at 153,639.

The government says the real number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases.

Mexico has the fourth-highest death toll in the world and is close to surpassing that of India, a country with a population more than ten times the size of Mexico's 120 million inhabitants.

India's death toll from coronavirus stood at 153,724 on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Wednesday that doses of the vaccine by German biotech firm CureVac had arrived for Phase III clinical trials in Mexico. Officials have said they are seeking 8,000 volunteers to participate in the trials.

US pharmaceutical company Novavax have also started phase III clinical trials in Mexico for a COVID-19 vaccine, and China's CanSino Biologics Inc was due to present the results of its phase III trials, officials said last week.