Costa Rica coronavirus updates for Tuesday, August 25

Costa Rica announced 14 new coronavirus-related deaths over the past day for a total of 376, according to official data released Tuesday afternoon by the Health Ministry.

Four-hundred and twelve people are hospitalized with COVID-19; 144 are in intensive care, representing a new high.

The Health Ministry confirmed 842 new cases over the past 24 hours for a cumulative total of 35,305. Of these new cases, 602 were identified via a PCR-RT lab test, while the remaining 240 were confirmed via their epidemiological nexus.

Tuesday, 321 more people were classified as recovered.

Costa Rica has 21,850 known active cases and 13,079 recoveries.

The data indicate Costa Rica has 7.36 COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 people.

Costa Rica coronavirus cases on August 25, 2020. Tico Times graph.

Changes to Orange Alerts

The cantons of Mora and Acosta (San José province), and Oreamuno (Cartago province) have been elevated to an Orange Alert due to the coronavirus, the National Emergency Commission announced.

Click here for an interactive map of Orange/Yellow Alert cantons in Costa Rica.

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 144 intensive-care patients reported Sunday would correspond to 50% of the public-hospital capacity. (Note that some of these patients may be at private hospitals.)

To put the 14 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.