For this Wednesday, January 20, in Panama, 2,243 new coronavirus infections are reported, bringing the accumulated number of cases in the country to 303,777.
In addition, for today a total of 4,912 deaths from COVID-19 are reported in the country, with 45 new deaths, 3 from previous dates are updated.
Case fatality rate that remains at 1.6%.
The Ministry of Health of Panama (Minsa) reported that to date some 246,452 people have been recovered.
On the other hand, 52,413 cases remain active, of which 49,133 remain in isolation at home and 666 are in hospital hotels.
Regarding hospitalizations, the Minsa details that 2,373 patients are in the ward and 241 are in intensive care units.
According to Minsa, in the last 24 hours a total of 13,584 new tests have been carried out to detect COVID-19, with a percentage of positivity of 16.5%.
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.