Published Monday, May 25, 2020 

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The Clodomiro Picado Research Institute at the University of Costa Rica received a donation of $3,514 that will fund the purchase of a new computer server.

The donation was given by the Association of Former Parliamentarians and Parliamentarians of Costa Rica, as a contribution to the work carried out by the institute.

“We believe that the Clodomiro Picado Institute is doing an extraordinary job in the production of a treatment to treat patients with covid-19," said Sonia Rodríguez Quesada, representative of the Association. "This means hope not only for Costa Rica but for the entire world.”

With the new server, the clinical follow-up data that the institute will carry out when the first batch of treatment with purified human antibodies is obtained to treat patients with covid-19 in severe or severe states will be stored.

According to Alberto Alape Girón, director of the Institute, the server will ensure that continuous support is maintained for the information generated concerning the state of patients in response to treatment.

The server will also help centralize the findings derived from the clinical follow-up, as well as the results of laboratory tests that will be carried out in both hospitals and in the Hematology Research Center, among others.

The goal is to evaluate the patient's response when the drug is administered. Records obtained will allow integrating all the data on the drug's efficacy, the institute said in its statement.


Social Security is still in the beginning stages in their research for a treatment to combat covid-19. Social Security is in the phase of collecting plasma at the National Blood Bank donated by patients recovered from covid-19.

With these first plasma intakes, treatment will begin in patients with active covid-19 in the country, reported Social Security on May 8.

The plasma collection and processing process is carried out by specialists in microbiology, doctors, pharmacists, scientists and representatives of the Ministry of Health.

Before scientists could get to the collection phase, the National Food Bank had to find and call the recovered covid-19 patients to request the donation of blood, from which the plasma is extracted.

Recovered patients have the option to refuse to donate their blood. Those that donate their blood undergo a pre-approval process to be sure that their blood meets the requirements to be donated.

Scientists released the minimum requirement for donors: ages of 18 to 65 years old, weigh over 50 kilos, in good health, must have been previously diagnosed with the virus, completely recovered post-a mandatory 14-day quarantine, and symptom-free, according to the criteria defined by the Ministry of Health.

In addition to the National Blood Bank, Social Security has enabled donation reception rooms in Hospital San Juan de Dios, Hospital México and Hospital Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia, all located in San José Province.

The Clodomiro Picado Research Institute is in the process of producing a treatment serum against covid-19 disease. While science races to find a cure or vaccine, the number of active covid-19 continue decreasing.


On Sunday afternoon, authorities confirmed 300 active cases. Active patients are those who currently have the virus.

Authorities provided the following statistics of the evolution of the virus in the country:

• Of the 930 infected since the first case was detected in March, 620 coronavirus patients have fully recovered.

• The ages of those affected range from six months to 87 with an average age of 37. On May 14, a 6-months-old baby tested positive with the virus.

• 15 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where 12 are in recovery rooms and 3 have been reported in an Intensive Care Unit, ICU, with delicate health conditions. Most of the infected patients are quarantined in their homes.

• 164 foreigners infected, of these 27 entered the country unauthorized and are jailed in the facilities of the Professional Migration Police in Heredia Province.

• 46 foreigners working as truck drivers transporting merchandise were rejected to enter the country because they tested positive for covid-19.

• 15,491 people have been ruled out.

• 23,378 medical covid-19 tests have been made.

• 10 deaths have been reported from patients infected with covid-19 since March.


The updated number of total patients in each district can be reached at the National Distance Education University on its Covid-19 Map.

As of Sunday night, the pandemic has killed 344,760 patients worldwide according to recent statistics reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.

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Should health authorities order all covid-19 recovered patients to donate blood to speed the process of producing the treatment? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com