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Published Thursday, December 10, 2020
$3 billion-plus used to address
pandemic, authorities say
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Social Security announced the general balance of investments, actions and achievements made in facing the national health emergency caused by covid-19.
According to Román Macaya-Hayes, president of Social Security, this year's balance closes positively in terms of the actions taken to address the pandemic.
Among the main actions taken this year has been the investment in infrastructure, medical staff, equipment and medical supplies that reached the budget of $3,313,384,000.
In infrastructure, 348 projects were developed. Among the most important were:
• The construction of the East Tower of the Calderón Guardia Hospital.
• A new emergency room in San Carlos Hospital.
• Gastroenterology room in México Hospital.
• Two new public clinics, one in San Isidro and another in Santa Bárbara, both in Heredia Province.
• New Maintenance Service at Alajuela Hospital
• Construction of the pharmacy warehouse of Hospital Calderón Guardia.
• The Covid Hospital.
• Exclusive areas for the care of covid patients in the Psychiatric, Children's, Mexico, Limón, Guápiles and Ciudad Quesada hospitals, among others.
In terms of research, Social Security is working together with scientists from the University of Costa Rica for treatments for covid-19 patients.
Other investigations developed this year were:
The use of hydroxychloroquine in covid-19 patients, whose results made it possible to decide that this treatment should not be continued.
The use of plasma obtained from recovered covid-19 patients. The treatment allows the transfer of the antibodies developed by the patient who fought the disease and was cured, to the infected person, helping to improve their immune response. More than 806 patients have received these transfusions.
The development and use of treatment developed by the Clodomiro Picado Institute of the University of Costa Rica. The treatment produces progress in some groups of patients. In the first study of this treatment, it was applied to a group of 27 people infected with covid-19.
Also, the "Respira" study (or “breathe” in English) was developed to evaluate the body's defenses against covid-19 infection over the next two years. This research is carried out with specialists from the Biomedical Research Agency, the U.S. Institute of Health and the German Cancer Institute. The study includes the participation of 3,000 people.
This year, hospitals have experienced a high number of patients, 9.4 million people have required medical attention since March. Of these, more than 3,250,000 were due to covid-19.
Other investments made by Social Security in response to the pandemic were the purchase of equipment, beds, medicines and medical supplies.
Regarding the expectations for next year, the authorities have budgeted more than $7.9 billion to continue facing the pandemic, Social Security said.
As long as it has not been possible to apply the covid-19 vaccine to control the spread of covid-19 in the population, the authorities will continue to report an increase in infections.
The Ministry of Health provided the most up-to-date statistics on Wednesday.
• 1,258 new covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 39,200 active cases.
• 20,470 foreign-born people have been infected with a total of 148,688 cases since March, approximately 13.7% of the total cases. Of these, authorities confirmed the death of 32 foreign-born patients. But since October, there is no updated information about foreign-born deaths due to covid-19.
• 602 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where 226 patients are in ICU’s in delicate health conditions (ages range from 1 to 92-years-old). And 376 patients are in recovery rooms. Many of the remaining infected patients are quarantined in their homes.
• 107,624 coronavirus patients have fully recovered, which is a 72.4% recovery rate of the total cases since March.
• 423,417 covid-19 tests have been performed in Costa Rica since March, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering of Johns Hopkins University.
• 1,864 deaths of people infected with covid-19, approximately 1.3% death rate of the total cases since March. Of these 701 women and 1,163 men. The ages range from a 9-year-old to a 101-year-old person.
Readers can see the updated number of total
patients in each district at the National
Distance Education University on its Covid-19 Map.
According to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering, CSSE, at Johns Hopkins University, the pandemic has killed 1,576,100 people worldwide.
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Should health authorities invest more in developing massive covid-19 diagnostic tests? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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