QCOSTARICA – The contagion rate of covid-19 in Costa Rica fell slightly in the last seven days, but remains at levels that specialists consider high and worrying.
This is stated in the most recent report from the Universidad Hispanoamericana (UH), A Pandemic in Perspective, released Thursday morning.
The analysis indicates that the contagion rate went from 1.08 to 1.07 in the last week.
This means that a week ago a group of 100 carriers of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes covid-19, would have transmitted the infection to 108 people; this week it would be 107.
When this indicator, also called the R rate, is below 1, it means that the virus reaches fewer people; When it is at 1 it remains constant, but when it exceeds the barrier of 1 it means that the transmission is increasing.
When the indicator is above 1, each group of 100 carriers infects a larger one. In other words, today we see a virus whose transmission speed is slower than a week ago, but which will still reach a high number of people.
“Fortunately, the speed with which the virus is transmitted did not increase, but it does continue to be of concern,” said Ronald Evans, physician, epidemiologist and coordinator of the report.
This has led to a rise in daily cases, which in turn affect hospitalization levels and deaths associated with covid-19.
In the past week (August 20 to August 26) 12,530 new cases (an average of 1,764) were reported.
The weekly incidence rate also increased in the country, from 317.3 cases per million inhabitants to 342.4. Being higher than 250, the number is considered high risk.
“This average increase in cases occurred in all provinces, most noticeable in Puntarenas and Limón,” the report states.
The number of hospitalizations also increased, going from 988 on the 20th to 1,106 yesterday (of which the number of people in an ICU went from 420 to 437).
The number of deaths, more indicative of the covid-19 conditions, has been steady in the two digits. In the week of August 20 to August 26, there were 105 deaths, for an average of 15 deaths daily.
This Thursday alone there were 23 deaths associated with covid-19 reported, including that of two children, one a 17 months old girl with no risk factors and the other a five-year-old with risk factors, her death was caused by bronchopneumonia caused by the virus.
Olga Arguedas, director of the Hospital Nacional de Niños (HNN) – Children’s Hospital, describes the infant as a “previously healthy” child, who had no risk factors that predisposed her to worsen.
“She died due to complications from acute infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” said Arguedas.
