QCOSTARICA – Epidemiological week 35, which ran from August 29 to September 4, registered 16,601 cases of COVID-19, with an average of 2,371 daily, ranking as the second with the highest accumulation of cases since May, when epidemiological week 19 added 18,021 cases.
This makes the first week of September the second with the highest number of COVID-19 cases
Regarding deaths from the week of August 29 to September 4, 136 deaths were added, while, from August 22 to 28, 127 deaths were counted, this represents an increase of 7% in the mortality of one week to another and gives us a daily average of 19 people who lose their lives related to the COVID-19 disease.
During epidemiological week 35, the average number of hospitalized cases was 1,180, while the average for week 34 was 1,086 admitted cases, showing an 8.6% increase in total hospitalizations.
Similarly, in epidemiological week 35 there were 862 hospital admissions and 749 for week 34, this represents an increase of 15% in new hospital admissions.
On Monday, September 6, 1,435 cases were registered, 24 deaths and 1,283 people remain hospitalized, 19 in private centers and 1,264 in the public system, of the total hospitalized are 480 in the ICU.
55.1% of the deaths of epidemiological week 35 were registered in the age group 65 years and over, 28.6% in the age group 50 to 64 years and 16.2% from 18 to 49 years.
There were no deaths of minors.
As of September 6, there are 5,642 accumulated deaths related to COVID-19.
Figures of hospitalized force authorities to call an emergency
Costa Rican hospitals are in a critical situation of occupation by covid-19.
This reality motivated the authorities to call a surprise press conference on Monday to raise the alarm. For the first time in months, leaders of the Ministry of Health, the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS) and the Fuerza Publica (National Police) met together.
According to Román Macaya Hayes, executive president of the Caja, such is the saturation that this weekend there were difficulties in transferring patients and they had to look for beds in all national hospitals.
“This is getting very complicated. We cannot look sideways and ignore this health situation,” said Macaya.
Vaccines are part of the solution, but the effect is not immediate
According to Macaya and Pedro González, vice-minister of Health, this upturn in cases and internments occurs in the midst of one of the largest vaccination campaigns in the country. However, both Macaya and González recall that the effect of these massive sessions is not immediate.
On the one hand, both leaders remember that the population with two doses is not very high yet. CCSS data indicate that, as of August 31, only 23.7% of the population had the complete scheme (both doses).
To this must be added people with the incomplete scheme who still must continue to take care of themselves since, although a dose does give some protection, it is not enough.
35.63% of the population is in this situation.
“At some point there was a behavior that if I had a dose I could free myself and that is not true,” González insisted.
Starting this week, greater availability of the vaccine will lead not only to applying more second doses, but also to more people being able to start it.
Last week our country received a historical number of 851,190 vaccines, which will allow the process to be further accelerated.
Another factor that is added is the delta variant, which is more transmissible than other variants of the virus and which is now dominant in our country.
However, they ask the population to get vaccinated as soon as they have the opportunity to thus have more weapons against the virus.
A recent study by the Ministry of Health and the CCSS revealed that only eight out of every 10,000 individuals (0.08%) who have the two doses have become ill and have required hospitalization.
