The Ministry of Health (Minsa) reported that for this Saturday, February 13, a total of 331,692 accumulated cases of COVID-19 are counted in Panama, of which 707 are new infections registered in the last 24 hours.
The report adds that the number of confirmed deaths from the new coronavirus rose to 5,621, with a total of 23 new deaths and 3 deaths from previous dates were added.
The case fatality rate in the country stands at 1.7%.
A total of 1,262 patients are hospitalized in the ward and 196 are kept in intensive care units.
Minsa statement adds that as of today 309,296 people have recovered from the virus.
Currently there are 16,775 cases that remain active, of which 14,905 remain in home isolation at home and 412 are in hospital hotels.
Minsa adds that in the last hours 8,955 new tests have been carried out to detect COVID-19 and the positivity rate is 7.8% in the country.
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.