The epidemiological report of the Ministry of Health of Panama ( Minsa ) reported this Sunday, July 4, that some 793 new cases of COVID-19 were detected in the country, raising the accumulated infections to 408,123.
In addition, the Minsa indicates that in the last 24 hours 7 new deaths were reported, which increased deaths from coronavirus to 6,574. The virus maintains a case fatality rate of 1.6% in the country.
So far, 388,293 recovered cases have been reported and there are 13,256 active cases in the country.
From this last figure, it is broken down that 12,189 people are confined to their homes and 375 have been housed in hospital hotels.
Regarding patients hospitalized in wards, it was detailed that there are 585 and another 107 are confined in intensive care units, after having contracted the virus.
In the last hours the authorities applied some 9,160 new tests, which yielded a positivity of 8.6%.
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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.
The information in this article is not intended to influence your decision whether to be vaccinated. You should conduct your own research when making a decision.