Health adds seven deaths and 57 confirmed cases of COVID-19

He Health Department seven deaths added by COVID-19 bringing the total number of deaths from the disease since the start of the pandemic to 1,562.

According to the agency’s daily report on the virus’s advance on the island, recent deaths occurred between December 27, 2020 and January 4.

New deaths reported:

-93 year old woman from the Metro region

-84-year-old woman from the Arecibo region

-83-year-old male from Arecibo region

-62 year old woman from Ponce region

-69-year-old woman from the Ponce region

-72-year-old male from the Mayagüez region

65-year-old man from the Bayamón region

Also Health reported 57 new confirmed positive cases, 27 probable positive cases and 74 presumed positive cases. Several experts warned that the decline in the number of cases in recent statistics does not necessarily mean that there are fewer infected, as the ability to test for the virus declined over the holiday season.

“The number of additional confirmed cases since the last report does not mean these cases correspond to the last 24 hours. The total includes cases with samples taken from December 20, 2020 to January 3, 2021 ″, Health quotes in press release.

With the newly infected, the total number of confirmed cases rose to 74,458, while probable cases are 4,861. A total of 57,221 suspicious cases.

The total of confirmed cases was adjusted after adding 444 cases before the date of December 20, 2020. Likewise, all probable cases were adjusted by subtracting 14 cases with a positive molecular test and adding one case with a sampling date of December 28, 2020.

All suspected cases were also adjusted after subtracting 118 cases with a positive molecular test and one case with a positive antigen test. The same, Added 277 suspected cases prior to December 20 date 2020.

Health also reported that the number of patients admitted to hospital because of the virus was placed at 423, 69 of whom are incarcerated in an intensive care unit and 74 are connected to a ventilator. To date, the country’s hospitals have 214 intensive care beds and 846 adult ventilation equipment available.

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, suspected cases, also known as antibody results, are those that were positive in the serological test and that do not have a 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 was diagnosed with COVID-19 through an antigen test or whose clinical picture meets the criteria to believe he had COVID-19 but never had a molecular or antigen test to detect it 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.