Costa Rica coronavirus updates for Tuesday, September 1

Costa Rica announced seven new coronavirus-related deaths for a total of 443, according to official data released Tuesday afternoon by the Health Ministry.

Four-hundred and forty-eight people are hospitalized with COVID-19; 149 are in intensive care, a new high.

The Health Ministry confirmed 897 new cases on Tuesday for a cumulative total of 42,184.

Of these new cases, 673 were identified via a PCR lab test, while the remaining 224 were confirmed via their epidemiological nexus.

Tuesday, 214 more people were classified as recovered.

Costa Rica has 25,471 known active cases and 16,270 recoveries. The data indicate Costa Rica has 8.67 COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 people.

Costa Rica coronavirus cases on September 1, 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 149 intensive-care patients reported Monday would correspond to 52% 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.