With a total of 487 new cases of covid-19, Panama counts a total number of infections to be 332,179, according to the epidemiological report of the Ministry of Health 14 February.
In addition, 11 new deaths were reported, and 4 deaths from previous dates were updated, totaling 5,636 deaths due to this virus in the country.
The case fatality rate remains at 1.7%.
5,034 new tests were carried out to detect coronavirus, of which 9.6% were positive.
There are a total of 311,783 recovered patients and 14,760 active cases.
Of the total active cases, there are 13,295 people are in isolation, of which 12,868 are at home and 427 in hotels; while 1,465 patients are hospitalized, of them 1,266 in ward and 199 in intensive care.
Most of the deaths correspond to those over 60 years of age.
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.