CORONAVIRUS: 14 deaths, 786 cases with peak 2-3 weeks away

The death of five more people from coronavirus, on Friday March 27 bought the total Panama fatalities to 14. and 112 new cases raised  the total of infections to 786 since the first contagion was confirmed in Panama, on March 9 with the peak some two to three weeks away said the  Ministry of Health as the country entered the fifth day of quarantine.

The national director of Epidemiology, Lourdes Moreno, said that the majority of cases are between the ages of 30 and 50.

 Moreno reported that to date 5,222 tests have been carried out in the country, of which 4,436 were negative. The per-capita rate if testing is the highest in Latin America and one of the highest in the world.

As cases continue to rise, authorities expect Covid-19 Modular Hospital to be ready within a month, and to have more beds for intensive care units and mechanical ventilators.

Julio Sandoval, member of the Coronavirus Advisory Committee and national coordinator of intensive care throughout the country, stressed that the maximum peak of hospitalizations is expected in two to three weeks, for which they are already preparing.

He  reported that 100 mechanical fans are about to arrive that will be distributed throughout the territory and would add to some 500 already existing.

Meanwhile, four people have died on the Holland -America cruise ship Zaandam stranded in the Bay of Panama and banned from transiting the canal.