For this Tuesday, January 5, 3,540 new coronavirus infections are registered in Panama, bringing the accumulated number of cases to 259,770.
In addition, for today, the country has a total of 4,238 deaths due to COVID-19, with 41 new deaths and the case fatality rate of 1.6%.
The Epidemiology chief of the Ministry of Health (Minsa), Leonardo Labrador, reported that 2,207 patients are hospitalized in the ward and 227 patients are in intensive care units.
The epidemiological report reflects that to date some 206,087 recovered people are reported.
On the other hand, a total of 49,445 cases are kept as active, of which 46,353 remain in isolation at home and 658 are in hospital hotels.
The Minsa adds that in the last 24 hours a total of 12,268 new tests have been carried out to detect COVID-19, and the positivity rate in the country is currently 28.8%.
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.