Costa Rica confirmed 245 new cases of the coronavirus over the past day, totaling 5,486 cumulative known cases, the Health Ministry announced Tuesday afternoon.
One-hundred and seven people are hospitalized with COVID-19, a new high.
Forty-four more people have been classified as recovered under Costa Rica’s definitions that qualify certain patients based on time rather than a negative test.
Costa Rica has 3,653 active cases and 1,810 recoveries.
Twenty-three people have died in Costa Rica after contracting the coronavirus. The data mean Costa Rica has 0.45 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 people.
Eleven people are currently in intensive care.
The Health Ministry says its models show the country’s intensive-care capacity could reach saturation points if new cases remain elevated over several weeks.
Costa Rica’s public-health system has 24 coronavirus-specific intensive-care beds and is preparing an additional 32 beds for those patients. In total, 135 ICU beds could be occupied by COVID-19 patients, though doing so would limit the country’s ability to respond to other emergencies.
Seventy-one of the 88 beds at the coronavirus-specific hospital (CEACO) are occupied, according to Mario Ruíz, medical manager of the CCSS.
Nearly all hospitalized patients have at least one risk factor, with hypertension, diabetes, obesity and smoking being the most common.
Active coronavirus cases in Costa Rica
During its Tuesday press conference, the Health Ministry did not provide full detailed information on the locations of the new positive cases or the amount of tests processed.
However, Health Minister Daniel Salas indicated that the following cantons had the highest number of new cases over the last three days: San José (+283), Desamparados, Alajuela, Alajuelita, Goicoechea and Tibás.
The Costa Rican Social Security System (CCSS) is conducting mass testing on asymptomatic residents of Alajuelita canton.
The recent spike in cases corresponds with both an increase in testing and with a higher test-positivity rate, according to officials. From June 27 through July 6, Costa Rica averaged 968 tests and 241 new known cases daily.
The Health Ministry considers the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) as the country’s current epicenter and believes there is community transmission in that region. Much of the GAM is under an orange alert.
The below graphic will update automatically when the Health Ministry releases its full report later this afternoon.
