PUERTO RICO: The Department of Health in Puerto Rico reported 868 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, while adding another 245 from past weeks to increase the cumulative total of positives to 54,746 since the emergency began in Puerto Rico.
This brings the country to now over 100,000 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic. The total figure from the Department of Health includes confirmed, probable and suspected cases.
Among those confirmed are by molecular tests (54,746), those probable by antigen tests (1,925), and suspects based on serological test analysis (43,358).
From the Bio-Portal, where the health department reflects the statistics of COVID-19 on the island, it appears that 631 adults are hospitalized, while 107 are now in the Intensive Care Units.
In a press release, the health department reported seven new deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday. Of the seven deaths, four were classified as confirmed.
With these additional deaths, the confirmed deaths add up to 959, the probable ones are 232 and a suspicious death is added. This brings the total number of deaths to 1,192.
“It is important to remember that any death registered after the report is issued will be reflected in later reports,” the health department said.
“The change in the number of deaths should not be interpreted as having occurred in the last 24 hours. In the same way, it is important to point out that the death report may vary, to the extent that the processes of registration and codification of the causes of death occur, which could take several days.”
Confirmed positive cases
The total of the results of confirmed COVID-19 cases is 54,746, of which 29,450 are women and 25,296 are men.
The reported cases are those that have a positive PCR test, with a sample collection date of November 20 to December 4.
The total was adjusted after adding 245 cases with a sampling date from October 21 to November 19.
The metropolitan region has the most confirmed positive cases with a total of 17,241, followed by the Bayamón region (12,082) and Caguas (7,507). However, the agency has 284 confirmed cases for which it has not been able to identify the region.
San Juan is the municipality with the most confirmed cases of infections with a total of 8,923, followed by the towns of Bayamón (4,210), Carolina (3,772) and Caguas (2,321). The agency has not identified the municipality of residence for 1,502 cases and another 183 live outside of Puerto Rico.
Probable positive cases
The report includes the results of antigen tests, which the CDC lists as probable cases. The total positive results in these tests is 1,925, which was adjusted after subtracting 54 cases that had a positive molecular test later and were added to the confirmed cases reported in this report. In addition, a case was added with a sampling date of November 17.
The additional probable cases reported are 79, which include samples taken from November 20 to December 4. The distribution by gender is 1,052 women and 873 men.
The Caguas region dominates the statistics with 395 probable infected, followed by the Metro region (322) and that of Bayamón (314). However, the health department has 69 probable cases for which it has not been able to identify the region.
At the municipal level, San Juan has the highest number of probable cases with 137, followed by Caguas (106), Bayamón (95) and Carolina (90). The agency has not identified the town of origin for 65 probable cases.
Suspicious positive cases
On the other hand, 871 cases were added with sampling dates between May 20 and November 19, and a duplicate case was eliminated. The suspected cases are divided into 24,364 women and 18,994 men.
As part of the report, 628 additional suspected cases were registered, with a sampling date ranging from November 20 to December 4. These cases, by definition, are those that have a positive serological test.
In this line, the total is 43,358 after being adjusted, by subtracting 130 cases that had a positive molecular test and one case that had a positive antigen test and were added to the confirmed and probable cases, respectively, registered as part of this report.
The metropolitan region also dominates the statistics of this category with 10,461 suspected infected, followed by the Bayamón region (9,311) and Caguas (5,537). However, it has 1,366 suspected cases for which it has not been able to identify the region.
San Juan is also the largest municipality with suspected cases (5,341), followed by Bayamón (2,931) and Carolina (2,196). The agency does not have available the town of 939 suspected cases.
