The epidemiological report of this Friday, July 2, indicates that some 1,030 new cases of COVID-19 have been registered in Panama, which brings the accumulated infections to 406,013.
The Ministry of Health (Minsa) also details that in the last 24 hours there have been about 6 new deaths and 2 of previous dates are updated, increasing to 6,560 deaths from this new coronavirus in the country. The case fatality rate of the virus is 1.6%.
So far, some 386,621 people have recovered from this virus and active cases occur in 12,832.
From this last figure, it stands out that there are 11,770 people confined to their homes, while another 371 are staying in hospital hotels.
While in the hospital wards there are 583 confined patients and 108 remain in the intensive care units.
In the last 24 hours in the country, some 14,053 new tests have been carried out to detect COVID-19, which have yielded a positivity of 7.3%.
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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.
The information in this article is not intended to influence your decision whether to be vaccinated. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.