With a total of 998 new cases of covid-19, Panama raised its number of infections to 325,487, according to the epidemiological report of the Ministry of Health.
In addition, 33 new deaths were reported, and 2 deaths from previous dates were updated that total 5,426 deaths due to this virus in the country.
The case fatality rate is at 1.67%.
9,789 new tests were carried out to detect coronavirus, for a percentage of positivity of 10.1%.
There are a total of 287,846 recovered patients and 32,215 active cases.
Of the total active cases, there are 29,928 people are in isolation, of which 29,469 are at home and 459 in hotels; while 2,287 patients are hospitalized, of them 2,060 in ward and 227 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.