Hospitals near breaking point as Covid-19 cases soar

The epidemiological week that ended Saturday closed with 12,454 new cases of Covid-19 up 2,578 compared to the previous week and threatening to overwhelm hospitals and force the return of lockdown.

This is a pattern that has been reported for four weeks, There were days, like last Friday, with a record number of cases (2,388).

Similarly, the percentages of positivity remain high, ranging between 12% and 14%, which implies that the country is far from reaching 5% positivity, which according to the World Health Organization, indicates that the pandemic is being controlled.

The same goes for deaths. The week that just ended added 134, some 41 more than the previous week, when the authorities reported 93.

This drastic increase in cases has the Health authorities on alert, who this week decided to establish new curfew and dry law measures in West Panama, where there are no longer hospital beds for patients with Covid-19.

In addition, it was decided to suspend benefits such as the digital voucher and the solidarity bonus for those who violate biosafety measures, and the possibility of hiring foreign medical specialists was raised.

“We beg the population to comply with sanitary measures, that is the best vaccine,” said Francisco Sánchez Cárdenas, a member of the Health Advisory Council, given what he considers the irresponsibility of 10% or 15% of the population that does not comply with sanitary measures.

According to the doctor, the data from the traceability of Covid-19 cases indicate that most of the infections occur at family gatherings.

In the opinion of public health specialist Jorge Luis Prosperi, the epidemic is “out of control” in the national territory.

“We face a rebound in cases, with the potential to collapse our health services, which may require a return to gradual confinement, as European countries are already doing,” he stressed.

However, he said that it is in our hands to face it with citizen discipline, avoiding falling into the so-called “pandemic fatigue”, characterized by a lack of motivation to maintain the recommended measures and a decrease in interest in keeping ourselves informed about the situation.