Panama reports 1,098 new COVID-19 cases and 36 deaths in 24 hours
In the last 24 hours, Panama registered 1,098 new cases of covid-19 , raising the total number of infections to 322,201, detailed the Ministry of Health (Minsa) in its epidemiological report.
Meanwhile, 36 new deaths were reported, and 7 deaths from previous dates are also updated, totaling 5,339 deaths due to this virus in the country.
The case fatality rate remains at 1.6%.
9,005 new tests were carried out to detect coronavirus, for a percentage of positivity of 12.1%.
There are a total 280,827 recovered patients and 36,035 active cases.
Of the total active cases, 33,612 people are in isolation, of which 33,160 are at home and 452 in hotels; while 2,423 patients are hospitalized, of them 2,181 in ward and 242 in intensive care.
Most of the deaths correspond to those over 60 years of age.
NOTE:
Some observers have argued that the Minsa reported case fatality rate (number of COVID linked deaths / number of known cases) in reality should 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, the method used in Panama to define how a 'COVID death' is counted is also 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.
There have also been reports on the inaccuracy of the PCR test, which would compromise the figures mentioned above.
In lack of better information sources, PanaTimes continues to publish reports with the government (Minsa) announced figures. Readers are adviced to use their own judgement. We are happy to publish more accurate reports, if they become available to us or our contributors.