New covid cases up 8% but fifth wave discounted

The epidemiological week Saturday (April 10 to 16) closed with 1,836 new Covid-19 infections,  an increase of 8 % over the previous week but doesn’t herald the start of a fifth wave.

Specialists in managing the pandemic generated by Covid-19 estimate that there could be a slight rebound in new cases in the coming days.

In the epidemiological week (April 10 to 16), 1,836 new cases of Covid-19 were reported, that is, an average of 262 infections per day. This is a slightly higher figure than last week (April 3-9), when the average was 243 cases per day.

The trend of one death per day continues, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health (Minsa).

Eduardo Ortega Barría, advisor to the Covid-19 Panama Vaccine Research Consortium, stressed that in the coming days there could be a slight increase in cases since the provision for the use of a mask in open spaces was suspended in the country and due to the Easter activities.

Even so, he considers that the current situation is positive since there are almost no deaths and few are hospitalized.

“As long as deaths and hospitalizations do not increase, we are fine. I don’t think there will be a fifth wave, but there will be upticks,” he added.

He stressed that the pandemic is not over, because while there are regions like Africa, where only 20% of its population has been vaccinated, there is still a risk of the appearance of new variants.