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Published Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Holidays family gatherings could rise
covid-19 infections risk, say specialists
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Parties with friends and families during the holidays such as Christmas or New Year's Eve are a common activity in Costa Rica and celebrating in large groups could increase covid-19 contagion.
According to Guiselle Guzmán Saborío, epidemiology at Social Security, during the holiday's it is expected that many people will not follow the health guidelines and will be exposed to being infected with covid-19.
For example, the use of karaoke in parties would increase the risk of infection because when people sing, they expel large amounts of saliva droplets which can fall up to 10 meters away and contaminate food, surfaces and the microphone itself.
"If the person who expelled the saliva is positive for covid-19, even if he or she seems to be healthy, that would be catastrophic for the other persons, especially if some families are mixed with others," Guzman said.
Due to the pandemic and with the goal of not increasing the cases of infected people, specialists recommend avoiding meetings with many people, especially if they do not belong to an immediate social bubble.
However, if people insist on doing these activities, despite the risk of contagion, and mix families and friends, they must consider some protection measures to prevent the spread of covid-19.
Among the main recommendations by specialists are:
• The party venue should be an open space.
• A minimum social distance of 1.80 meters.
• The karaoke microphone should be lined with plastic and disinfected every time people use it.
• People should wear a mask to reduce the number of saliva droplets that can reach other people.
• People singing should do it in an open space, where the wind goes in the opposite direction of the rest of the guests or separated with a physical barrier.
The health authorities call on the public not to let their guard down and make an additional effort to keep hygienic measures during the holidays to avoid the increase in infections of the virus.
On Tuesday, the government, through the National Emergency Commission, announced the publication of a guideline to ban the holiday meetings in public institutions.
The goal of the presidential order is to prevent an increase in covid-19 infections during the holidays. "Due to the pandemic and the situation in our country that reports a considerable number of active covid-19 cases, it is urged to avoid as much as possible social activities that increase the risk of contagion," the government said in its statement.
The Ministry of Health provided the most up-to-date statistics on Tuesday.
• 1,009 new covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 38,898 active cases.
• 20,366 foreign-born people have been infected with a total of 147,430 cases since March, approximately 13.8% 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.
• 619 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where 230 patients are in ICU’s in delicate health conditions (ages range from 1 to 92-years-old). And 389 patients are in recovery rooms. Many of the remaining infected patients are quarantined in their homes.
• 105,686 coronavirus patients have fully recovered, which is a 77.7% recovery rate of the total cases since March.
• 419,572 medical covid-19 tests have been performed in Costa Rica since March, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering of Johns Hopkins University.
• 1,846 deaths of people infected with covid-19, approximately 1.3% death rate of the total cases since March. Of these 696 women and 1,150 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 1,566,490 people worldwide.
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What additional advice do you have to avoid covid-19 infections during the holidays? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
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