The number of those infected with covid-19 in Costa Rica reached 22 in Costa Rica, the Ministry of Health reported Wednesday afternoon.
They are people between 10 and 73 years of age; fourteen women and eight men, two of which are seniors and two minors.
Of the 22 patients, 16 had contact with the doctor from the San Rafael de Alajuela Hospital, a 54-year-old man, who had recently traveled to Panama, who became the superdisseminator of covid-19.
Of the infected,19 are Costa Ricans, three Americans, including the first confirmed case of an American woman arriving from New York, not showing symptoms on arrival on March 1 and her husband, who has tested positive but is still asymptomatic; the third American is a resident of Costa Rica who recently traveled north.
The confirmed cases are in the provinces of San José, Heredia, Guanacaste and Alajuela.
Twenty of those affected remain at home, only two are hospitalized, including the doctor, who remains in intensive care.
When asked about an eventual investigation into the actions of the doctor, given the way in which the disease spread, the CCSS executive president, Román Macaya, stated that for now they are concentrating on his recovery.
Macaya explained that the contacts infected by the doctor were made before he was diagnosed with the covid-19.
“As it happens, he was an employee of the Caja, he could very well have been a bus driver, who was exposed to a large number of people before a diagnosis. That shows how contagious the virus is. This virus on average infects two to three people per case; here (with the doctor) we have 16 directly or indirectly associated”, he added.
Health also confirmed that there is a pregnant woman in the infected, this information came to light out because she herself made it known on social networks. She is 39 years old and is in her 17th week of gestation.
Authorities explained that data from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that pregnant women do not seem to have an increased risk of severity due to the disease. In an investigation with 147 pregnant women (64 confirmed, 82 suspected and one asymptomatic), only 1% became critical.
The groups at greatest risk are diabetics, heart patients, the hypertensive, elderly and those with lung diseases, as well as cancer patients or diseases that compromise their immune system, who face this virus with greater severity.
The cases in Latin America this Wednesday night is as follows:
- Mexico: 8 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Guatemala: 0 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- El Salvador:: 0 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Honduras: : 2 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Nicaragua: verified information is not available
- Costa Rica: 22 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Panama: 8 confirmed cases, 1 reported death
- Cuba: : 3 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Colombia: 9 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Venezuela: verified information not available
- Brazil: 52 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Ecuador: 17 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Peru: 11 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Bolivia: 2 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Paraguay: 1 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Uruguay: 0 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
- Argentina: 19 confirmed cases, 1 reported deaths
- Chile: 23 confirmed cases, 0 reported deaths
