The secretary of the Department of Health, Lorenzo González Feliciano, reported this morning that the Health Department will now report confirmed cases and probable cases of COVID-19, in accordance with guidelines established by the United States Council on State and Territorial Epidemiologists.
Given this, Dr. Miguel Valencia, clinical health consultant, explained that confirmed cases are those patients who underwent molecular testing for the virus, while probable cases are those that have been processed by (rapid) serological tests. they are not diagnostic.
He explained that in the event that a patient identified by serological test undergoes a molecular test and is positive, it will become a confirmed case.
With these new categories, the island now has 1,402 confirmed cases and 3,927 probable cases.
The changes, which will be reflected from tomorrow on the COVID-19 data panel, will also show the confirmed and probable cases by municipality.
Similarly, deaths will now be reported as confirmed and probable deaths. Confirmed deaths are those of patients who have tested positive for a COVID-19 molecular test, while probable deaths are defined as those of people who have tested positive for a serological test and a doctor has noted a relationship with the virus .
According to Health, to date the island has 143 reported deaths, of which 63 have been confirmed by the Surveillance System and 80 by the Demographic Registry.
“We are not eliminating cases because the total remains the same, we are seeing which category we place them now,” Valencia stated at a Health press conference to update the emergency response.
Recovered cases
As for the number of patients recovered from COVID-19, Valencia indicated that there is no uniform definition to identify these people, so the agency determined to use the category of convalescent cases, which are those who have overcome the disease, who have not they are hospitalized and did not die.
According to the doctor, until last week in Puerto Rico there were 1,119 patients who met these characteristics. The number comes from a formula that includes the total number of confirmed cases and deaths, as well as the number of hospitalized.
“Until there is a better way and a better definition of knowing what a recovered case is, the consensus that was reached was, to have an estimate, provisional methods, in the absence of a defined method, with estimates. So when get that difference, that is the number that the department will be reporting as convalescent cases, “he said.
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