Panama reports 2,960 new cases of COVID-19 and 28 deaths in the last 24 hours
According to reports from the Ministry of Health, today's figure reflects a record high daily cases.
The previous record of cases detected was 2,806 cases, according to figures released by MInsa.
For this Wednesday in the country, 28 new deaths due to the new coronavirus have been reported in the last 24 hours.
To date, 199,947 cases of Covid-19 infection have been detected in Panama. In addition, 166,600 recovered have been reported.
13,981 tests have been applied, of which 21% were positive.
With the 28 new deaths in the country, the total reach 3,439 accumulated deaths. The case fatality rate is at 1.7%.
Active cases are currently at 29,908.
There are 1,553 hospitalized patients, of them 1,370 are in a ward and 183 in an intensive care unit.
Meanwhile, 28,355 people are reported in home isolation, of which 27,657 are in their residences and 698 in the so-called hospital hotels.
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 highly compromise any figures mentioned above.
In lack of better information sources, PanaTimes continues to report the government (Minsa) announced figures. Readers are adviced to use their own judgement.