Panama authorities change their plan and seek asymptomatic patients from COVID-19
People formed in a long waiting line this Monday to be treated at a "swab express" center in the populous district of San Miguelito, located in the Metropolitan area of Panama, the most affected by the COVID-19 in the country, which shows the largest figures for the disease in Central America.
Even people who do not have any symptoms of the disease caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 are being treated, a health official at the "express swab" center.
Panama, which accumulates 87,485 infections and 1,906 deaths in the five and a half months of the pandemic, extended to the asymptomatic the taking samples to diagnose COVID-19, which previously was only applied to people with various manifestations of the disease, in a change of strategy that was officially announced last Saturday.
Authorities reported on Sunday that 7,570 diagnostic tests were carried out in 24 hours, a record number for this country of 4.2 million inhabitants that since June has experienced an escalation of the disease that has placed it as the second in America with more infections per 1,000 inhabitants, only behind Chile.
Antigen tests are being used more and more, rapid tests, this has helped to take samples in greater volume the reason for this is to be able to find people who may be asymptomatic, the director of the Metropolitan Health Region, Dr. Israel Cedeño told Telemetro on Monday.
Cedeño affirmed that the authorities plan to keep the number of daily tests above 4,000, which will allow to search for all those possible asymptomatic patients who are in the streets and their contacts, to isolate them and cut the chain of transmission of the illness.
The increase in diagnostic tests began in Panama along with the gradual process of economic reopening, which was resumed after more than five months of paralysis and after the improvement of several pandemic indicators.
Since the first case of COVID-19 was detected, on March 9, 305,030 tests have been carried out in Panama, according to official figures released on Sunday.
Panama has been recognized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as one of the countries in the region that has made the most efforts since the beginning of the pandemic to strengthen testing, and this behavior is attributed in part to displaying the highest figures of total confirmed cases in Central America.
The "express swab" center has been in operation since last Friday and cares for everyone who wishes to be tested, either in their car or on foot, said Dr. Yaritzel Ríos, San Miguelito regional director of Health, who announced that starting tomorrow there will be another in Los Andes Mall, a shopping center located on the periphery.
We need to massify the tests for traceability, said the doctor, who stressed that many people are not going to health centers to rule out the disease because they fear being infected there.
In San Miguelito we have the RT (effective reproduction number) of 0.7. We have been able to lowered it, but the difficult thing is to maintain it, said the official who appealed to the citizens to comply with the biosecurity regulations.
Panama, which accumulates 87,485 infections and 1,906 deaths in the five and a half months of the pandemic, extended to the asymptomatic the taking samples to diagnose COVID-19, which previously was only applied to people with various manifestations of the disease, in a change of strategy that was officially announced last Saturday.
Authorities reported on Sunday that 7,570 diagnostic tests were carried out in 24 hours, a record number for this country of 4.2 million inhabitants that since June has experienced an escalation of the disease that has placed it as the second in America with more infections per 1,000 inhabitants, only behind Chile.
Antigen tests are being used more and more, rapid tests, this has helped to take samples in greater volume the reason for this is to be able to find people who may be asymptomatic, the director of the Metropolitan Health Region, Dr. Israel Cedeño told Telemetro on Monday.
Cedeño affirmed that the authorities plan to keep the number of daily tests above 4,000, which will allow to search for all those possible asymptomatic patients who are in the streets and their contacts, to isolate them and cut the chain of transmission of the illness.
The increase in diagnostic tests began in Panama along with the gradual process of economic reopening, which was resumed after more than five months of paralysis and after the improvement of several pandemic indicators.
Since the first case of COVID-19 was detected, on March 9, 305,030 tests have been carried out in Panama, according to official figures released on Sunday.
Panama has been recognized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) as one of the countries in the region that has made the most efforts since the beginning of the pandemic to strengthen testing, and this behavior is attributed in part to displaying the highest figures of total confirmed cases in Central America.
The "express swab" center has been in operation since last Friday and cares for everyone who wishes to be tested, either in their car or on foot, said Dr. Yaritzel Ríos, San Miguelito regional director of Health, who announced that starting tomorrow there will be another in Los Andes Mall, a shopping center located on the periphery.
We need to massify the tests for traceability, said the doctor, who stressed that many people are not going to health centers to rule out the disease because they fear being infected there.
In San Miguelito we have the RT (effective reproduction number) of 0.7. We have been able to lowered it, but the difficult thing is to maintain it, said the official who appealed to the citizens to comply with the biosecurity regulations.