A second Mexican state will from next week enter the highest level of coronavirus alert as authorities bid to contain a recent jump in infections in the north of the country, the health ministry has said.

The northern state of Durango will as of Monday join Chihuahua, a neighboring region on the US border, in the red alert phase following an increase in hospitalisations.

Most of Mexico’s 32 regional governments are currently at the lower orange or yellow alert levels.