QCOSTARICA – Sunday night, 432 of the 1,188 covid patients in hospital are in Intensive Care Units (ICU), after suffering complications from covid-19.
In the latest occupancy report from the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS), it was evidenced that of this group of people, the majority are under 60 years of age.
The Caja details that of the total of seriously ill covid patients, 11 are between 20 and 29 years old; 51 are in the range of 30 to 39 years old, 94 are between 40 and 49 years old, 130 are between 50 and 59 years old, 112 are between 60 and 69 years old, 28 are between 70 and 79 years old and six people are over 80 years old.
The number of people under 60 years of age (286) represents 66% of the total number of occupations in the ICU due to covid-19.
Of the total number of patients in the ICU, 162 are critical.
The Caja also reported that the total occupation due to this disease rose to 1,188 patients this Sunday (35 more than on Saturday).
Numbers beyond the capacity of the Caja to provide adequate medical services.
The majority of seriously ill patients are concentrated in the Specialized Center for the Attention of Patients with covid-19 (Ceaco), the hospitals Calderón Guardia, México, San Juan de Dios, Max Peralta (Cartago), Escalante Pradilla (Pérez Zeledón), San Vicente de Paúl (Heredia), Monsignor Sanabria (Puntarenas), Tony Facio (Limón), Enrique Baltodano (Liberia) and San Carlos, in Ciudad Quesada.
Among the confirmed cases, the main comorbidities are hypertension (784 people), diabetes (462), and obesity (443).
Also reported among these associated diseases are people with asthma, dyslipidemia, smoking and cancer.
On Sunda, the Caja also registered 14 deaths among people who were in the ICU.
At 5 am this Sunday, there were 15 patients waiting to be transferred to a medical center, of which seven are considered critical and eight severe.
Call for Hospital Red Alert
The president of the CCSS, Román Macaya, confirmed this Sunday that they received a letter signed by all managers in which the reality that exists in all hospitals is detailed.
In that letter, the managers ask that a hospital red alert be declared.
“The intensive care beds are saturated, this means that for covid or non-covid patients, who need an ICU bed, they may be waiting in emergency, before a room is assigned to them, this is compromising the opportunity and the level of care that we can offer to our patients who arrive at hospitals.
“This is a reality that the institution has not experienced in its 80-year history, that one out of every five beds of all the beds is occupied by patients with a single disease, in this case, covid-19,” Macaya stated.
Macaya said that the message was transferred to the authorities in search of a comprehensive approach to this situation. Meanwhile, the National Emergency Commission (CNE) announced that this Monday they will meet with a technical team made up of Health personnel and the CCSS to define the actions to follow.
