QCOSTARICA – The contagion rate of covid-19 in Costa Rica fell in the last seven days and went from 1.15 to 1.05, according to the weekly analysis of the Universidad Hispanoamericana (UH).
Despite this drop, the number is still considered high and the warning signal remains. The contagion rate, also called the R rate, is an indicator of the speed with which the virus is transmitted.
When it is greater than 1, it implies that each group of carriers of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes covid-19, would transmit it to a larger group.
A rate of 1.05, like the one we see this week, indicates that 100 people would infect 105.
At a time of high circulation of the virus, there are many groups of 100 people who could infect, so five more in each would represent a difference.
The advantage of this reduction in the last week is that seven days ago those 100 individuals infected even more people: 115.
“It is a moderately positive data. In a situation like the current one, this number continues to put a lot of pressure on the hospital system,” said Ronald Evans, a medical epidemiologist and coordinator of the analysis at the Universidad Hispanoamerianca (UH).
The situation facing hospitals at this time is critical.
For Evans, the situation began to change more clearly since the presence of the delta variant in our country was confirmed, which is considered to be twice as transmissible as the “traditional” variants.
However, he emphasizes that also dynamics of the population’s behavior, such as stopping the use of masks or relaxing measures due to exhaustion, affect the situation.
By provinces
The contagion is not the same throughout the country. This report highlights that, after four consecutive weeks in which all provinces registered indexes greater than 1, two of them fell to 0.99: Puntarenas and Limón.
In these two provinces, those 100 inhabitants would pass the infection to 99.
“The latter may be an encouraging sign,” considered the specialist.
Cartago has the highest rate, with 1.11, followed by Guanacaste with 1.08 and San José with 1.07.
Heredia has 1.05 and Alajuela 1.03 contagion rate.
