Covid-19 positivity below 4.3% for seven consecutive weeks

The report of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) published on November 2 highlighted that in Panama for seven consecutive weeks there is a positivity below 4.3% indicating that  Covid-19 is under control.

According to the report, which contains data up to October 30, it indicated that the decrease in positivity has been recorded since epidemiological week number 37 (from September 12 to 18).

In epidemiological week number 43 (from October 24 to 30) 2.5% was registered in the positivity index, one of the lowest percentages recorded during the entire epidemic caused by Covid-19.

According to PAHO and the World Health Organization, one of the epidemiological criteria to consider whether the pandemic is controlled is that less than 5% of the samples analyzed test positive for Covid-19 at least during the last two weeks.

Another factor that is taken into account is that there is “a comprehensive surveillance and analysis of samples of suspected cases, on the order of 1/1000 population / week,” the report highlighted.

In epidemiological week number 43, 44,968 tests were carried out, that is, 10.4 per 1,000 inhabitants, “indicating that in Panama the surveillance of the disease has been maintained with a high volume of tests applied to the population.”