The number of patients in ICU due to covid-19 continues to rise in Panama

Panama, Jan 3 (EFE) .- Panama registered this Sunday for the second consecutive day a record number of patients in intensive care units amid a rebound in the covid that forced a new confinement in the country, which accumulates 253,736 cases and 4,140 deaths from the disease since March.
The Ministry of Health (Minsa) indicated in its daily report that there are 218 covid patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), another unprecedented figure after the one registered yesterday (215), while in the general ward there are 2,081, for a total of 2,299 hospitalized.
The most recent report from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) indicated that as of December 29, when there were 180 people in intensive care, 29% of beds in ICU and semi-ICU were available nationwide and 58% of the fans.
According to the official report this Sunday, in isolation in their homes there are 44,830 people infected with the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and another 615 in hotels-hospitals.
In the last hours, 1,972 new cases and 37 deaths were detected from covid-19, which in Panama has a fatality rate of 1.6%, one of the lowest in the continent.
7,838 coronavirus detection tests were applied, yielding a positivity of 25.1%.
Since the beginning of last November, Panama, a country of 4.2 million inhabitants, has experienced a strong rebound in the pandemic that has led it to record record numbers of new infections, deaths and daily tests carried out and that is exerting strong pressure on the sanitary system.
In its country report, PAHO indicated that “as of December 27, Panama is the second country in the Americas with the highest incidence (of covid) after the United States, with 5,407.4 accumulated cases per 100,000 inhabitants, and in turn it is above the average rate for the region of 3,337.2 per 100,000 inhabitants “.
The current rebound has been linked by the Panamanian authorities to the almost total reopening of the economy in mid-October and to the disorder of a part of the population, and is being faced with new restrictions on mobility.
From Friday until this Sunday, a total national quarantine governs, a measure that was also applied for the dates of Christmas and that will be repeated on January 9 and 10.
Mobility by gender and identity number and suspension of the working day was also established between January 4 and 14 in the provinces of Panama, where the capital is located, and the contiguous of Panama Oeste, the populated areas of the country and which concentrate most cases of covid-19.

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