Costa Rica coronavirus updates for Monday, October 12 :

Costa Rica announced 53 new coronavirus-related deaths since Friday for a total of 1,108, according to official data released Monday afternoon by the Health Ministry.

Five-hundred and seventy-two people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19; 185 are in intensive care, continuing a downward trend.

The Health Ministry confirmed 1,386 new cases on Saturday, 1,051 on Sunday and 733 on Monday for a cumulative total of 89,223.

A total of 53,247 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 21.7 COVID-19-related deaths per 100,000 people. The country is averaging 16 deaths each day since September 1 (672 total), including double-digit deaths for every day since September 12.

Costa Rica has 359 intensive-care beds and 986 beds for less-complex coronavirus hospitalizations. This means 52% of Costa Rica’s ICU beds are currently occupied.

Costa Rica’s outbreak in a global context

Costa Rica has the 13th-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 368 adults and 740 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.