The panorama of COVID-19 on the island is uncertain, given the little data from the holiday season

Determining whether it is possible to relax the current executive restrictions on the COVID-19 pandemic, whether they should remain the same or whether greater controls are needed, will not be scientifically possible this week, he said. Dr. José Rodríguez today. Orengo, director of the Public Health Trust.

The alert flag appears a few days before the expiration of the current executive order, the last signed by former governor Wanda Vázquez Garced.

The doctor explained that there was only sufficient information until 23 December, which is why he emphasized that, before issuing an opinion on changes in order, the collection of samples or the administration of tests for COVID-19 should be stabilized.

“The number of tests that have been done so far (December 24) so ​​far is much smaller than the one we had before.”he explained. In the first week of December, for example, 58,000 tests were performed, while in the 14th-20th week of the same month, approximately 48,000 tests were processed. These figures remained stable until 23 December, but between 24 and 27 December the number of tests carried out fell by more than 75%.

In this regard, he stressed that “The amount of information we have is limited. The same will happen in the week of the New Year. […] We understand that the number of people who became infected was decreasing, but due to the decrease in the number of tests performed so far, we cannot provide a clear picture “.

Rodríguez Orengo specified that it will not be until next Sunday when there could be enough information “if there is really a decrease or if after the Christmas season we will increase (in cases of COVID-19, hospitalizations)”.

For his part, the designated secretary of the Department of Health, Carlos Mellado, said that Governor Pedro Pierluisi will make the decision on the next executive order depending on the context available on the day of the decision.

“One of the things the governor has said is that, as far as possible, because this is scientific, we need to promote orderly and safe reopening.”Mellado pointed out. Beyond the executive restrictions, the official said there were other actions underway, such as the massive testing plan ordered by the governor on Saturday. The plan includes conducting COVID-19 tests in places classified as difficult to access, including the islands of Vieques and Culebra.

The goal, Mellado said, is “to have an epidemiological picture, to know at this time how many patients and the percentage of infections we have and to see all this effort translated into reducing the number of infections,” when combined with tracking contacts. This plan also aims to increase the identification of patients with mild or moderate symptoms, who qualify to receive monoclonal antibody therapy as a treatment for COVID-19 and thus avoid and reduce hospitalizations.

Possible registration of deaths in December

Dr. Rodríguez Orengo also indicated that by December 23, the number of infected remained high and that the number of deaths had not decreased as expected. In fact, he announced that current figures suggest that December will become the month with the most deaths due to COVID-19 on the island.

Until yesterday, November and December had the same number of deaths, 323. However, the Trust will receive information on deaths last night in the last week of December. “We understand that it will exceed the number of November, which until then had been the month with the most deaths in Puerto Rico.” the director pointed out.

The decrease in hospitalizations is also not a signal that can be exclusively depended on to determine the changes in the executive order at present, because it is not clear whether this decrease responds to a real decline in cases or whether it responds to other features of Christmas. On the other hand, “we are still a bit old (in hospital) to be able to give a break to health professionals working in this field,” explained the biochemist.

Former state epidemiologist Ángeles Rodríguez agreed that while recent figures show a decline in hospitalizations for COVID-19, there is currently no generalized environment for improvement to justify a relaxation of executive measures.

“I don’t think the numbers support more openness (compared to more flexibility), the numbers haven’t changed that much, they’re stable, hospitalizations have dropped, but that has a number of factors.”, Detained.

If there is flexibility in the measures, the doctor warned that the consequences should be considered between 15 and 21 days after entry into force, while reiterating that there is currently no claim that there is a lower risk of community contagion or a decrease in contagious.

Rodríguez indicated that, during Christmas, historically, the number of hospitalizations decreases, but this number stabilizes again after the Day of the Three Kings, so it would be after January 6 when a more precise scenario could be analyzed in terms of hospitalizations for COVID- 19.