Panama registered a total of 1,014 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, with which the accumulated number of cases rises to 147,667 for this Monday, November 16.
The Ministry of Health ( Minsa ) reported that the COVID-19 case fatality rate in the country remains at 2.0%, and the total number of deaths increased to 2,881, after accounting for 8 new deaths.
In the last 24 hours, 7,220 tests were applied, for a positivity percentage of 14.0%.
He adds that a total of 710 patients are currently hospitalized in the ward, while 161 remain in intensive care units.
On the other hand, the Minsa indicates that 126,746 people are reported who have recovered from COVID.
The epidemiological report details that to date a total of 18,040 cases remain active, of which 608 are in hospital hotels and 16,561 remain in isolation at home.
NOTE:
Some critics have argued that the Minsa reported case fatality rate (number of COVID linked deaths / number of known cases) in reality could 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, how a "COVID death" is counted is 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.
In lack of better information sources, PanaTimes continues to report the government (Minsa) announced figures. Readers are adviced to use their own judgement.