(QCOSTARICA) Although during the first 13 days of June the cases of COVID-19 in the country have skyrocketed, especially due to the detections that have been registered in the Northern Zone, the different Intensive Care Units (ICUs) have not been affected.
In fact, despite the spike in new cases that began more than 10 ago, the number of hospitalized has dropped from 20 to 19 on Saturday, of which only 3 patients are in the ICU.
Since the pandemic began, authorities have been emphatic that, rather than paying attention to the number of new cases per day, it is necessary to pay attention to the number of people hospitalized and in the ICU, that is, they are sick enough to require hospitalization.
Currently, there are 907 active cases of COVID-19, save for the 19 in hospitals, they are recovering home, from the asymptomatic to those with mild symptoms, under a quarantine order,
If the number of patients requiring intensive care goes up, it could be dangerous, as the health system could collapse and serious patients with COVID-19 could be left without space in hospitals, as has happened in other countries.
Despite the fact that there is still no impact on the specialized units, Salas said that “we have to be cautious with this issue as patients begin to show complications up to 5 days after the onset of symptoms, so as there are more cases, there is the possibility that later there will be more people requiring hospitalization in intensive care.
“We have not had that impact, but it is not ruled out that we could have an impact in the coming days,” Salas said at the press conference this Saturday.
Since the pandemic began, both the Ministry of Health and the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) have explained that the number of beds in the ICU is a changing number, since they also have to deal with other cases such as traffic accidents or people with other diseases in delicate condition.
