On May 2nd, Costa Rica had broken the curve from the first wave of contagion for the novel Coronavirus and according to the latest official projections, the second wave should have reached its highest point in the middle of the previous month, an optimistic forecast that was not fulfilled.
During August the rate of infections accelerated, causing almost half of the total accumulated cases since the Pandemic began 6 months ago. Only in that month there were 23,467 cases out of a cumulative total of 49,897, which is equivalent to 47% and September shows the same behavior.
The Health Minister, Daniel Salas, said that if the population takes the necessary care to prevent the spread of the Virus, the country could reach its peak of contagion within about a month and a half, and then begin to decline. However, he warned that the possibility that the current rate of infections is maintained during the remainder of 2020 is also valued.
“If there is a responsibility by the people, of the chambers, of the municipalities, of everyone, to apply what we have to apply, we can make the peak begin to drop in a matter of a month and a half,” he said. Despite this, he added that “if people continue to behave in an already tired, worn-out way, being indifferent, then the scenario can last until the end of the year.”
Salas insisted on appealing to individual responsibility but explained that there are other factors that complicate the fight against the Pandemic, such as the profile of many of the recently infected people, who live in conditions that complicate isolation or distancing
1 in 5 is patients are asymptomatic and that complicates the scenario
The recovery of contagion traceability is the greatest challenge facing the country at this time, a task that has lagged for months and that is further complicated by the sustained growth of cases. In this regard, Minister Salas warns that there is still a large group of people getting infected but without showing symptoms but with the power to transmit it, which reach 20% according to the estimates, making the scenario even more critical, comments the official.
“There are many cases that are asymptomatic or the person simply did not say that they had been in close contact with others and that person had very mild symptoms. Irresponsibly, maybe he went to work or was in a public place and infected many more, so we are at a point where it is difficult to do this traceability, taking this fact into account,” concluded Salas.
