Puerto Rico arrives with 17 new fatalities from COVID-19

Puerto Rico woke up on Wednesday to 17 new fatalities from the COVID-19, bringing the total deaths from the virus to 1,408, reported Health Department.

The agency explained that 16 of the deaths that occurred between December 11 and December 22 were classified as confirmed, while one was described as likely. With these new numbers, the total of confirmed deaths comes to 1,166 and the probable ones are 242.

New Confirmed Deaths:

• 66-year-old man from the Aguadilla region
• 83-year-old woman from the Bayamón region
• 46-year-old man from the Bayamón region
• 87-year-old man from the Arecibo region
• 81-year-old woman from the Caguas region
• 70-year-old man from the Caguas region
• 80-year-old man from the Bayamón region
• 88-year-old woman from the Mayagüez region
• 70-year-old man from the Arecibo region
• 82-year-old man from the Metro region
• 48-year-old man from the Metro region
• 57-year-old man from the Metro region
• 52-year-old man from the Metro region
• 72-year-old man from the Bayamón region
• 77-year-old man from the Mayagüez region
• 88-year-old man from the Metro region

Probably new death:

• 56-year-old man from the Ponce region

“The change in the number of deaths should not be interpreted as if it happened in the last 24 hours. Likewise, it is important to point out that the death report can vary, to the extent that the processes of registration and codification of causes of death take place, which can take several days, ”the agency said in a press release. .

While, Salud also reported 483 new confirmed positive cases, 87 probable positive cases, and 365 additional presumptive positive cases. This increased the total of confirmed cases to 66,583, that of probable cases to 3,905 and that of suspects was placed in 51,097..

The total of confirmed cases was adjusted after adding 41 cases with sampling dates from November 16 to December 1 and the remaining eight duplicate cases. The universe of probable cases was also adjusted after subtracting 25 cases with a positive molecular test. The same happened with the total of suspected cases after Salud subtracted 66 cases with a positive molecular test and added six cases with a positive antigen test and 15 cases with sampling dates from November 10 to December 5. . It also deducted two duplicate cases in this category.

“The adjustments in totals were made as part of an effort by the Department of Health, entities and clinical laboratories to ensure that every sample created for COVID-19 is recorded in the bioportal, regardless of the date it was taken defended the agency.

Meanwhile, the number of hospital admissions for the virus was 537, of which 86 are in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and 87 are connected to a ventilator. To date, the country’s hospitals have 223 intensive care beds and 808 adult artificial respirators.

According to the agency, the term confirmed positive case refers to infections whose result has been validated by a PCR (molecular) test. The likely case is one whose disease positive result was obtained by antigen testing. Meanwhile, suspect cases, also known as antibody results, are those that have a positive serological test and no positive molecular or antigen test.

In addition, the agency stated that a death confirmed by COVID-19 equates to a person’s death with one or more positive molecular tests. Probable death is the death of a patient who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 through an antigen test or whose clinical picture meets the criteria to believe he had COVID-19 but has never had a molecular or antigen test to detect the virus. Suspicious death, meanwhile, refers to the death of a person in which a specific antibody is detected in serum, plasma, or through a serological test using their blood.

Confirmed positive cases (molecular test)

The total of 66,583 confirmed positive cases equates to 35,873 women and 30,710 men. The group of patients between 20 and 29 years old dominates with the highest rate of infections (11,787), followed by those between 30 and 39 years (11,136) and those between 40 and 49 years (11,047).

The metropolitan region is the region with the most confirmed positive cases with a total of 19,870, followed by the Bayamón region (14,468) and Caguas (9,393). However, the agency has 286 confirmed cases for which it has been unable to identify the region.

San Juan remains the municipality with the most confirmed infections with 10,185 cases, followed by Bayamón (5,086), Carolina (4,414) and Caguas (2,914). Health still does not have the municipality of 1970 confirmed cases available.

Probable Positive Cases (Antigen Test)

The total of 3,905 positive cases in the antigen test is divided by 2,165, which corresponds to women and 1,740 to men. In this category, the group of patients between the ages of 40 and 49 registers the highest number of likely infected with 610, followed by the group aged 20 to 29 with 592 and those aged 30 to 39 with 570.

The Bayamón region dominates the statistics with 810 likely infected, followed by the Metro region (652) and the Arecibo region (424). However, Salud has 195 likely cases for which it was unable to identify the region.

At the municipal level, Bayamón has the highest number of probable cases with 321, followed by San Juan (276) and Caguas (195). The agency has the city with 187 likely cases unavailable.

Suspicious positive cases (serological test)

The total of 51,097 probable positive cases is divided by 28,659 for women and 22,438 for men. In this category, the group of patients between the ages of 20 and 29 also registered the highest number of likely infected with 8,855, followed by the 40 to 49 year old group with 7,966 and those aged 50 to 59 with 7,736.

The metropolitan region dominates the statistics with 12,167 suspected of being infected, followed by the Bayamón region (10,976) and Caguas (6,470). However, it has 1,712 suspected cases for which it has been unable to identify the region.

San Juan is also the largest municipality with suspected cases (6,216), followed by Bayamón (3,484) and Carolina (2,592). The bureau does not have access to the municipality of 1,275 suspected cases.