Panama exceeds 130,000 COVID-19 cases; Rt drops to 0.92
Meanwhile, the Rt for this week had a slight decrease: from 1.02 it went to 0.92.
Israel Cedeño, head of the metropolitan region of Health of the Ministry of Health (Minsa), reported in a press conference that for the last 24 hours 671 new cases were reported, after the application of 6,999 tests (9.6%) and 12 deaths.
In home isolation, 20,650 people are reported, and 682 people are in the hospital. Of those 121 are in intensive care units (ICU).
Cedeño stressed that despite the fact that in recent weeks some sectors have reopened, such as tourism on the beaches, the figures have remained on a plateau. Meanwhile, the death figures have been falling.
However, he stressed that in the last 24 hours the cases in the Guna Yala region have skyrocketed. Only in Narganá 39 new houses were reported.
This week, it was reported that the General Congress of Guna Culture issued a resolution in which it decides to prohibit the use of masks, both for residents, officials and visitors.
NOTE:
Some critics have argued that the Minsa reported case fatality rate (number of COVID linked deaths / number of known cases) in reality could be much lower, as the number of reported cases does not necessarily reflect the truth, as the testing does not cover the whole population, and many cases go undetected. At the same time, the government can't report what they don't know, but readers should note that the numbers may tell a different story from the reality.
Also, how a "COVID death" is counted is unclear, as many of the deaths correspond to underlying previous conditions, such as cancer, blood diseases, other age related diseases etc., and are reported as COVID deaths since the patient also had the coronavirus. On the other hand, many viruses are known to lower the patient's immunity and expose them to other diseases. As an example most HIV/AIDS patients don't die from the virus itself, but from other derived diseases such as pneumonia or regular flu.
In lack of better information sources, PanaTimes continues to report the government (Minsa) announced figures. Readers are adviced to use their own judgement.