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Published
Monday, November 9, 2020
More public hospitals will carry
out covid-19 diagnostic tests
By A.M. Costa Rica staff
The National Geriatrics Hospitals in San José Province, Enrique Baltodano in Guanacaste Province, Tony Facio in Limón Province and Fernando Escalante in Pérez Zeledón Canton, will begin with the application of diagnostic tests for the detection of covid-19, Social Security announced.
The goal of the health authorities is to increase the capacity to detect the virus on the coasts and areas near the borders, Angie Cervantes-Rodríguez, a microbiologist at Social Security said.
Recently, other public hospitals in rural areas began to apply diagnostic tests to patients suspected of having been infected, such as Maximiliano Peralta in Cartago Province and Monsignor Sanabria in Puntarenas Province.
In San José Province, the México and Rafael Á. Calderón hospitals are also carrying out the covid-19 tests.
These new molecular diagnostic laboratories were made possible with investment from Social Security and donations from the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, the Costa Rica-United States of America Foundation for Cooperation, CRUSA, the Costa Rican-American Chamber of Commerce, AMCHAM, and the Business Alliance for Development, AED.
According to Cervantes, the molecular diagnosis is the safest and most efficient way to diagnose covid-19, since it allows detecting the presence of genetic material of the virus in the nasopharyngeal swab samples, even weeks after the person was infected. Due to the high probability of this method, it allows the virus to be detected in a larger number of samples without the risk of confusing it with other infectious agents.
As the covid-19 advances in the country, the provision of more laboratories in hospitals for the detection of viruses is of great importance for the medical care of first-time infected patients.
The Ministry of Health reported on Saturday the following updated statistics of the covid-19 contagion in the country:
• 946 new covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 43,780 active cases.
• 17,986 foreign-born people have been infected with a total of 116,363 cases since March, approximately 15.4% of the total cases. Of these, authorities confirmed the death of 32 foreign-born patients.
• 464 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where 179 patients are in ICU’s in delicate health conditions (ages range from a 1-year-old to a 93-year-old). And 285 patients are in recovery rooms. Many of the remaining infected patients are quarantined in their homes.
• 71,119 coronavirus patients have fully recovered, which is a 61% recovery rate of the total cases since March.
• 1,464 deaths of people infected with covid-19, approximately 1.3% death rate of the total cases since March. Of these 557 women and 907 men. The ages range from a 9-year-old to a 100-year-old person.
In October authorities stopped providing the updated statistics on people who have been ruled out and the number of medical covid-19 tests that have been made.
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 1,255,045 people worldwide.
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