The epidemiological report of the Ministry of Health of Panama reported this Thursday, December 3, that the new cases of COVID-19 detected amount to 1,880; which raise the number of accumulated infections to 171,219.
So far the country has 3,141 deaths associated with the new coronavirus, after 27 deaths will be registered (19 belong to the last 24 hours).
The health authorities have applied 14,947 new tests in the last day, a record number for the country; these presented a positivity of 12.6%.
Those recovered in Panama amount to 148,396 while active cases are reported in 19,682.
This statistic shows that 17,839 people are confined at home; and another 635 have been accommodated in hospital hotels.
In addition, about 1,047 patients are kept in hospital wards and 161 are confined in intensive care units after being diagnosed with the virus.
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, 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.