Costa Rica coronavirus updates for Wednesday, October 7

Costa Rica announced 20 new coronavirus-related deaths over the past day for a total of 1,024, according to official data released Wednesday afternoon by the Health Ministry.

Five-hundred and fifty-seven people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19; 203 are in intensive care. Both figures represent decreases compared to Tuesday.

The Health Ministry confirmed 1,355 new cases, of which 1,131 were identified via a lab test, for a cumulative total of 83,497.

A total of 50,295 people have been cleared as recovered; however, this figure does not include about a month’s worth of patients, according to health authorities.

The data indicate Costa Rica has 20.1 COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 people. The country is averaging 15.9 deaths each day since September 1 (588 total), including double-digit deaths for 25 straight days.

Costa Rica has 359 intensive-care beds and 986 beds for less-complex coronavirus hospitalizations. This means 57% of Costa Rica’s ICU beds are currently occupied.

Costa Rica’s outbreak in a global context

Costa Rica has the 11th-most new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days, according to data compiled by The New York Times.

About 1.2% of people who tested positive for the coronavirus in Costa Rica have died. The deaths comprise 338 adults and 686 elderly adults.

The below graph shows Costa Rica’s approximate test-positivity rate (the fraction of tests that come back positive) as of Tuesday, October 5. The Tico Times calculates daily positivity using Health Ministry data as follows:

(People testing positive) ÷ (People testing positive + people testing negative)

Note that the actual number of daily tests is higher than indicated on the chart, because one person can be tested multiple times.

The World Health Organization recommends testing enough to keep the positivity rate under 5%; Costa Rica’s high test-positivity rate suggests it’s missing milder or asymptomatic cases, allowing the coronavirus to continue to spread.