The drop in new cases of COVID-19 will be used by the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS) to reactivate care services not related to the Virus. In addition, it will begin the gradual reduction of beds enabled to address diseases related to the Coronavirus, depending on the behavior of the Pandemic.
“We hope to recover non-COVID in-person care services, which at the time should have continued to be provided virtually, and other cases such as scheduled surgeries, which had to be suspended while maintaining only emergency procedures,” explained the medical manager of the CCSS, Mario Ruiz.
Increasing other services
With this action, the institution intends to increase the production of surgical services and procedures, mitigate waiting lists, anticipate the demand for emergency services due to the rainy season and preserve the safety of patients who do not have COVID.
“The recovery of spaces dedicated to COVID has allowed the institution to better adapt services to the new normal, and continue to provide services with a greater margin for people waiting for care,” added Ruiz.
In December, the CCSS reported that due to the pandemic, the waiting time for outpatient visits went from 345 days to 417; in surgeries from 335 days to 467 and in procedures from 128 days to 137.
Country shows steady reduction in new cases
As indicated by the CCSS, the epidemiological surveillance of the Pandemic has shown a sustained downward trend since the last weeks of 2020, which has remained and accentuated during 2021. Currently the number of new daily cases reaches an average of 400, which represents a reduction of more than 50% with respect to those registered in the first week of December.
“This has led to a reduction in the demand in hospital services in general, more marked in light and moderate attention beds, but also with a reduction in the demand for severe and critical beds. At this time the highest generation of cases is found in the Bruncas and Huetar Atlántica regions,” explained the general manager. The occupancy of beds in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is 61% and in the room 23%, which translates into 93 ICU beds and 310 rooms available.
This Friday the positive cases added 201,678 and the recovered persons 169,053 (CCSS maintains a backlog in the registry of recovered), that is, there are around 32,625 active cases currently.
