Costa Rica coronavirus updates for Friday, August 21

Costa Rica announced seven new coronavirus-related deaths over the past day for a total of 340, according to official data released Friday afternoon by the Health Ministry.

Four-hundred and three people are hospitalized with COVID-19; 124 are in intensive care.

The Health Ministry confirmed 1,059 new cases over the past 24 hours for a cumulative total of 32,134. Of these new cases, 866 were identified via a PCR-RT lab test, while the remaining 193 were confirmed via their epidemiological nexus.

It represents Costa Rica’s largest day-over-day increase in cases during the pandemic.

Friday, 220 more people were classified by health authorities as recovered. Costa Rica has 21,635 known active cases and 10,159 recoveries.

The data indicate Costa Rica has 6.65 COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 people.

Costa Rica coronavirus cases on August 21, 2020. Tico Times graph.

Costa Rica’s hospital capacity

Costa Rica can allocate up to 1,058 total intermediate-care beds and 287 intensive-care beds for COVID-19 patients at public hospitals across the country. Using this capacity impacts availability of other health services.

The 124 intensive-care patients reported Friday would correspond to 43% of the public-hospital capacity. (Note that some of these patients may be at private hospitals.)

To put the seven new deaths in context: Costa Rica recorded 23 deaths attributed to respiratory viruses in all of 2018, according to Health Ministry data.

The below graphic will update automatically as the Health Ministry releases new coronavirus data.

If you believe you have COVID-19, contact Costa Rica’s hotline at 1322. English-speaking staff and mental health professionals are available.