Puerto Rico appears with 17 new deaths due to COVID-19

Puerto Rico woke up Wednesday with 17 new deaths due COVID-19, bringing the total number of deaths caused by the virus to 1,408, he reported Department of Health.

The agency detailed that 16 of the deaths that took place between 11 and 22 December were classified as confirmed, while one was described as probable. With these new numbers, the total confirmed deaths amount to 1,166, and the probable ones are 242.

New confirmed deaths:

• 66-year-old man from the Aguadilla region
• 83-year-old woman from the Bayamón region
• 46-year-old man from the Bayamón region
• 87-year-old man from Arecibo region
• 81-year-old woman from the Caguas region
• 70-year-old man from the Caguas region
• 80-year-old man from the Bayamón region
• 88-year-old woman from the Mayagüez region
• 70-year-old man from the Arecibo region
• 82-year-old man from the Metro region
• 48-year-old man from the Metro region
• 57-year-old man from the Metro region
• 52-year-old man from the Metro region
• 72-year-old man from Bayamón region
• 77-year-old man from the Mayagüez region
• 88-year-old man from the Metro region

Probably new death:

• 56-year-old man from the Ponce region

“The change in the number of deaths should not be interpreted as taking place in the last 24 hours. In the same way, it is important to emphasize that the death report may vary, as the processes of registration and codification of the causes of death take place, which could take several days “, the agency quotes in a press release.

While, Salud also reported 483 new confirmed positive cases, 87 probable positive cases and 365 additional suspected positive cases. Given this, the total number of confirmed cases increased to 66,583, that of probable cases to 3,905, and that of suspects was placed at 51,097..

All confirmed cases were adjusted after the addition of 41 cases with sampling data between 16 November and 1 December and the remaining eight duplicate cases. The universe of probable cases was also adjusted after subtracting 25 cases that had a positive molecular test. The same happened with the total number of suspicious cases after Salud reduced 66 cases that had a positive molecular test and six cases that had a positive antigen test and added 15 cases with sampling data between November 10 and December 5. It also dropped two duplicate cases in this category.

“Adjustments in totals are part of the effort of the Department of Health, entities and clinical laboratories to ensure that any sample made for COVID-19 is registered in the Bio Portal, regardless of the date it was taken,” the agency said.

In the meantime, the number of hospitalized for the virus was placed at 537, of which 86 are confined in an intensive care unit (ICU) and 87 are connected to an artificial respirator. To date, hospitals in the country have 223 intensive care beds and 808 artificial respirators for adults.

According to the agency, the confirmed positive case term refers to infections whose result was validated by a PCR (molecular) test. The probable case is one whose positive result for the disease was obtained by antigen testing. Meanwhile, the suspected cases, also known as antibody results, are those that have a positive serological test and do not have a positive molecular or antigen test.

In addition, the agency explained that a confirmed death of COVID-19 corresponds to the death of a person with one or more positive molecular tests. Probable death is the death of a patient who was diagnosed with COVID-19 by an antigen test or whose clinical picture meets the criteria to believe that he or she had COVID-19 but never had a molecular or antigen test to detect the virus. . Meanwhile, suspicious death refers to the death of a person in whom a specific antibody is detected in serum, plasma or by a serological test with their blood.

Confirmed positive cases (molecular test)

The total of 66,583 confirmed positive cases corresponds to 35,873 women and 30,710 men. The group of patients between 20 and 29 years old dominates with the highest number of infections (11,787), followed by those between 30 and 39 years old (11,136) and those between 40 and 49 years old (11,047).

The metropolitan region is the one with the most confirmed positive cases, with a total of 19,870, followed by the Bayamón region (14,468) and Caguas (9,393). However, the agency has 286 confirmed cases for which it could not identify the region.

San Juan remains the city with the most confirmed infections with 10,185 cases, followed by Bayamón (5,086), Carolina (4,414) and Caguas (2,914). The municipality does not yet have 1,970 confirmed cases at its disposal.

Probable positive cases (antigen test)

The total of 3,905 positive cases in the antigen test is divided into 2,165 corresponding to women and 1,740 men. In this category, the group of patients aged between 40 and 49 years has the highest number of probable infected with 610, followed by the group between 20 and 29 years with 592 and the group between 30 and 39 years with 570.

The Bayamón region dominates the statistics with 810 probably infected, followed by the Metro region (652) and the Arecibo region (424). However, Salud has 195 probable cases for which it could not identify the region.

At the municipal level, Bayamón has the highest number of probable cases with 321, followed by San Juan (276), Caguas (195). The agency does not have 187 probable cases at the city’s disposal.

Positive suspicious cases (serological test)

In total, 51,097 positive cases are likely to be divided into 28,659 for women and 22,438 for men. In this category, the group of patients aged between 20 and 29 years also has the highest number of probable infected with 8,855, followed by the group of 40 to 49 years with 7,966 and the group from 50 to 59 years with 7,736.

The metropolitan region dominates the statistics with 12,167 suspects of infection, followed by the region of Bayamón (10,976) and Caguas (6,470). However, it has 1,712 suspected cases for which it could not identify the region.

San Juan is also the largest municipality with suspicious cases (6,216), followed by Bayamón (3,484) and Carolina (2,592). The agency does not have at its disposal the city of 1,275 suspected cases.