Costa Rica coronavirus updates for Monday, August 31

Costa Rica announced 18 new coronavirus-related deaths since Saturday for a total of 436, according to official data released Monday afternoon by the Health Ministry.

Four-hundred and fifty people are hospitalized with COVID-19, a new high; 144 are in intensive care, equaling the previous high.

The Health Ministry confirmed 847 new cases on Sunday and 741 new cases on Monday for a cumulative total of 41,287.

Of these new cases, 1,490 were identified via a PCR lab test, while the remaining 98 were confirmed via their epidemiological nexus.

Monday, 319 more people were classified as recovered compared to Saturday.

Costa Rica has 24,795 known active cases and 16,056 recoveries. The data indicate Costa Rica has 8.53 COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 people.

The Health Ministry on Monday reported the death of a 19-year-old, the country’s youngest known death related to the coronavirus. Like approximately half of all adults living in Costa Rica, she had a preexisting condition.

Costa Rica coronavirus cases on August 31, 2020. Tico Times graph.

Below is Costa Rica’s test-positivity rate (the fraction of tests that come back positive) as of Saturday, August 29. We calculate this by dividing Costa Rica’s daily lab-confirmed positive cases by the total number of tests performed that day.

Costa Rica coronavirus test positivity rate on August 29 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 144 intensive-care patients reported Monday would correspond to 50% of the public-hospital capacity. (Note that some of these patients may be at private hospitals.)

To put the 18 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.