Positive coronavirus tests near 30% with 697 new cases

The percentages of positive tests for coronavirus in  Panama continue to climb with an  average of near 30%  this month and on June 1 the total reached 41.33% .

On Thursday, June 12, the Ministry of Health reported 697 new cases and 418 accumulated deaths.

Rodrigo DeAntonio , the advisor to the Ministry of Health, said that the rise is due to the higher rate of contagion that has been occurring in some townships and to the search that is being made to identify cases.

Health authorities have gone from performing a daily average of 1,300 tests in May to 2,000 this month, as part of an aggressive, house-to-house strategy to detect more infections, especially in the townships with the most cases.

Jorge Luis Prosperi, a public health specialist, said  it was necessary to massify the tests to reach 2,000 per day.

The average percentage of positive tests per month in March was 15.14%; in April, 23.24%, and in May, 18.