The deputy director of the Metropolitan Health Region of Panama, Yamileth López, said that the increase in patients with COVID-19 in hospitals in recent days is worrying, exceeding even the most critical days of the pandemic registered in the country in July.
López, who was on a tour of the Curundú Health Center, also indicated that the occupancy in the beds of the intensive care units (ICU) was at a high level and that we were on the verge of exceeding hospital capacity and from the collapse of the healthcare system.
There are increases in the intensive care units. We have more cases now than in July, which was the highest crisis; we have less than 140 patients in the intensive care units, at the critical point we have 159 cases; and yesterday we marked 167 or 169 cases. So the number of patients in ICUs and wards is increasing. But remember that when a patient comes up it is not only the bed but also the ventilators, López stressed.
The deputy director asked the population to redouble their efforts to comply with biosecurity measures to mitigate
coronavirus infections in Panama.