Mexico City registered 2,664 more deaths than usual earlier this month as authorities fought to contain the spread of COVID-19 that has strained hospitals and forced the city into a semi-lockdown, reported Reuters.

Mexico’s capital’s “excess mortality” from Dec. 1 to 12 – deaths above the typical number from prior years – averaged 214 a day, a government report said on Saturday. That compared to 141 excess deaths a day in November.

The rate peaked in May when Mexico City, with a population of some 9 million, recorded 320 excess deaths per day, reported Reuters.

With hospitalizations on the rise, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met with Mexico City’s mayor to discuss increasing the numbers of hospital beds, equipment and healthcare workers, the president said on Twitter on Saturday evening.

According to Reuters, COVID-19 vaccinations for medical staff will continue on Sunday, he said. Mexico’s first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines arrived last week, supplemented by a second shipment, with 42,900 doses, on Saturday.