Published Wednesday, April 29, 2020 

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Scientists have already produced the first batch of plasma tests from patients who have not been infected with covid-19, announced the Clodomiro Picado Research Institute on Tuesday.

That first laboratory test was done to verify that the production line planned to create the plasma will not have any type of negative effects.

"The results we obtained were very satisfactory," said Guillermo León, coordinator of the lab. "The test accomplished the way we expected."

According to scientists, more than 56 units of the substance were produced from 25 liters of plasma. These units are designed to be applied via injection.

However, this first batch of tests did not cure covid-19. "These have only been a test to verify that the production line planned to process the plasma of recovered patients will not have any problems," stated the laboratory in its statement.

This advance is of great importance because it demonstrates that the laboratory is fully prepared to receive the plasma from people already recovered from covid-19, which will then produce the desired cure made with purified and concentrated immunoglobulins.


For plasma production, the institute had to modify its laboratory to incorporate an exclusive area for the production of what will be the antidote against covid-19 made in Costa Rica.


On Tuesday, the Ministry of Health confirmed an increase of 8 new patients infected with the covid-19, increasing the total to 705 cases.

Authorities provided the following statistics:

- Ages of those affected range from 1 to 87 with an average age of 37. Of those, 35 are children under the age of 13, 632 are between 18 and 70 years old

- 38 are elder patients over the age of 70. Of these patients, the authorities confirmed the case of a patient who was living in a nursing home in Guadalupe, San José Provice.

According to reports, the patient was admitted for a medical procedure in the Calderón Guardia Hospital from April 14 to 16. At the hospital, a covid-19 test was performed, which resulted in negative. However, he was returned home to serve isolation for 14 days. After that period, a second covid-19 test was done, giving a positive result.

Ministry authorities are in the process of testing for covid-19 on all residents and employees of the nursing home.

- 16 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where eight of them have been reported in intensive care with delicate health conditions. The rest of the infected patients are quarantined in their homes.

- Of those infected, 336 are women (47%) and 369 are men (53%).

-133 patients are employees of Social Security.

- 69 foreigners infected.

- 306 coronavirus patients have fully recovered, of these 146 women and 160 men.

- 8,356 people have been ruled out since the virus was first reported in the country in March.

- Six deaths reported from patients infected with covid-19.

On April 20, a 54-year-old Cuban man who was diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 6 died. According to the authorities, he was linked to 81 people infected with covid-19.

On April 19, a 69-year-old Costa Rican diagnosed with the coronavirus on March 25 died.

On April 15, an 84-year-old Costa Rican man who had tested positive for covid-19 on April 1 was reported dead.

On April 8, a 45-year-old Costa Rican died after being hospitalized for 10 days in intensive care at the San Juan de Dios Hospital.

The first two patients died in March. They were hospitalized in intensive care at San Rafael Hospital in Alajuela Province, both 87-years-old.

The UNED University provides a daily updated number of patients infected in each district throughout the country at its  Covid-19 Map.

As of Tuesday night, the pandemic has killed 218,800 patients worldwide according to recent statistics reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.


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