COVID-19 was ruled out as a cause of death in 10% of patients who died from the disease. More than 7 months into the Pandemic, the Ministry of Health shared the first results of the group that analyzes these deaths.
The idea of the group is to determine among the victims, which died directly from the virus and which ones died from other causes while still being infected. “There is an analysis of each file to determine if there is a recent history of the disease or the damage it produces in the body,” said the Minister of Health, Daniel Salas.
Of the first batch, 212 cases analyzed – that occurred between March and August-, it is indicated that 90.3% of them died specifically due to the effects of COVID-19. Among them are also associated conditions that aggravated the situation such as:
High blood pressure: 137 patients
Diabetes: 82 patients
Cardiac diseases: 75 patients
Regarding the rest of the patients, Minister Salas indicated that they are divided between 19 discarded, 6 pending, and 1 that has not been determined.
Salas added that the study group involves his Ministry, the Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), and the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC).
Close to the record
This last day became one of the ones that have left more cases of COVID-19 so far in the pandemic. In total there were 1,542. Also, there were 10 new deaths.
With this update, the national total reaches 91,783 cases, with 54,155 recovered and 1,134 deaths. The average age of those infected is still 37 years old, but the group ranges from a 2-month-old baby to adults over 100 years old, mostly men and of Costa Rican nationality. Regarding hospitalization, the CCSS reports 553 patients, 203 of them in Intensive Care.
