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AMCostaRica© 
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 Respiratory therapists (RT) mechanically examine ventilated patients in an ICU. - Social Security and A.M. Costa Rica wire services photo |
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 Published Friday, August 7, 2020 Social
Security acquires more than
300 respiratory therapist machines By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Social Security has purchased 311 respiratory therapists since the start of the pandemic, to cope with the increase in patients infected with covid-19 who must be treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Respiratory therapists (RT) mechanically examine ventilated patients in an ICU. According to Social Security, the most recent purchase of 7 RT machines costs approximately $196,000. They were installed in the San Carlos Hospital in Alajuela Province. With the new equipment, the hospital now has RT machines for patients who require intubation. The hospital with the new machines has a capacity for 22 covid-19 infected patients. "This is preventive support for the San Carlos hospital due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic that causes covid-19," said Randall Chavarría Flores, director of the hospital. The RT equipment is necessary if there is an important increase in the cases that require attention in the ICU due to the accelerated increase of covid-19 infected patients throughout the country.  As of Thursday afternoon, the Ministry of Health confirmed 103 patients are in an ICU with delicate health conditions. The ministry provided the following statistics on the status of the virus in the country: • 653 new covid-19 cases, bringing the total to 13,832 active cases. The ages of patients infected range from a three-month-old baby to a 100-year-old person. • 5,692 foreign-born people have been infected of the 21,070 cases since March, approximately 27% of the total cases. • 391 patients are being treated in public hospitals, where 288 patients are in recovery rooms. Most of the infected patients are quarantined in their homes. • 7,038 coronavirus patients have fully recovered, which is a 33.4% recovery rate. • 66,166 people have been ruled out. • 100,050 medical covid-19 tests have been made. • 200 deaths of patients infected with covid-19 since March. Which is a 0.9% death rate. Of these 74 were women and 126 men. The ages range from 23 to a 99-year-old person. On July 30, authorities reported 30 foreign-born people had died from covid-19 since March, at the time it was 22% of virus-related deaths. However, the ministry confirmed that they will not continue providing information on the number of foreign-born people who die from covid-19 in the country. Readers can see the updated number of total patients in each district at the National Distance Education University on its Covid-19 Map. As of Thursday night, the pandemic has killed 712,476 patients worldwide, according to recent statistics reported by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University. ---------------------------- Should Social Security increase the number of RT machines in more public hospitals? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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