Panama registered 1,249 new cases of covid-19 in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 402,581, reported the Ministry of Health (Minsa).
Meanwhile, 7 new deaths were notified due to this disease, for a total of 6,536 deaths in the country. The case fatality is 1.6%.
14,244 tests to detect covid-19 were applied in the last hours. The positivity is at 8.7%.
To date, 12,389 active cases and 383,656 recovered patients have been counted, according to the epidemiological report of the Minsa.
Of the total active cases, 11,706 patients are isolated, of them 11,341 at home and 365 in hotels.
While 683 patients are hospitalized, of which 575 are in ward and 108 in intensive care units.
On the other hand, Dr. Leonardo Labrador, head of epidemiology at the Minsa, reported that the effective reproduction number of covid-19 or Rt in Panama is at 1.09.
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.