Panama reports second consecutive day with no Covid-19 deaths

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Panamanian health authorities reported on Monday, May 17, that for the second consecutive day no deaths were reported due to Covid-19, but warned that the pandemic is not over because the virus is still circulating in the country.

The daily report of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) highlighted that as on Sunday, no deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours.

The epidemiological report also highlighted that the positivity in cases of infection in the country remains at 5%, and the lethality rate for covid-19 at 1.7%, one of the lowest in Latin America.

The Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre, pointed out that although these numbers serve to be “calmer”, people are using them “as if the pandemic were over”, and said that “instead of opening the door (to the virus), we must do everything possible so that it does not enter our homes.”

Panama has experienced two waves of covid, the first in June 2020 and the second at the end of the same year, when daily deaths reached more than fifty, and currently maintains some control of the pandemic which is reflected in the relatively low numbers of new daily cases and deaths.

According to the daily report, 268 new cases of Covid-19 and zero deaths from the disease were reported this Monday, although the number of deaths was updated with one from an unspecified earlier date, to reach 371,145 confirmed infections and 6,297 deaths in more than a year of pandemic.

The Minsa report stated that 302 people are hospitalized for the coronavirus in general wards and 61 in Intensive Care Units (ICU), while 4,735 remain isolated in their homes and 269 in hotels.

On this day, 5,358 diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 were performed, with a positivity rate of 5%. To date, Panama has done 2,528,006 tests, 590,862 per million inhabitants.

Regarding the national immunization process that began last January 20, the Minsa said that up to this Monday 844,078 doses of vaccines against Covid-19 have been administered, mostly from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer and the rest from AstraZeneca.

In Panama, priority groups are being vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, including health personnel, adults over 60, teachers and pregnant women, among others.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine is administered to men over 30 years of age and women 50 years of age or older who have enrolled in a voluntary registry.