Sustained a drop in hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Puerto Rico

A consistent drop in the number of hospitalizations of patients with COVID-19 points to an improvement in the impact of the pandemic on the island, although the reduction in this line does not mean that Puerto Rico already is out of the danger zone, Dr. José Rodríguez Orengo, director of the Public Health Trust, warned this Sunday.

The decline in hospitalizations that began to be observed from the first week of January was uncertain at that time, as historically during the Christmas period there is a reduction in patients incarcerated in hospital institutions.

However, entering the last week of January, the biochemist pointed in statements to The New Day to the fact that “what we are seeing is real,” in reference to the low. However, Rodríguez Orengo explained the rate of hospitalized by COVID-19 for every 100.00 inhabitants around 11. “It’s pretty high,” he stressed. “We’re better than in December, but we’re still not that good.” the Department of Health reported yesterday 310 hospitalized because of the coronavirus. The record figure occurred on December 10, with 657 hospitalized.

The doctor, however, raised a warning when he noted that “the number of active cases is rising” on the island. In early January, for example, he explained that the number of active cases of COVID-19 was 178 individuals per 100,000 inhabitants, but in the last week this figure had risen to 228. “We need to monitor and maintain- us using all security measures, “he said. As of January 21, the number of diagnoses by molecular testing is 7,370 cases, as well as 1,403 by antigen testing.

Rodriguez Orengo also stressed the importance of hospitals reporting daily deaths of patients due to VOCID-19 as soon as possible. Last week there were three days without reports of deaths due to viruses, although then the daily number reported by Health soared to 29 deaths on Friday, the highest figure reported in a single day, so far , most corresponding to deaths on different dates in January.

“We need to know clearly and quickly when people in Puerto Rico are dying to make decisions and be able to make appropriate recommendations to the government and the general public.” point out the biochemist. So far this month, 158 deaths have been reported, the equivalent of about seven a day, “similar to what we were seeing in October,” he said. In December, with 394 deaths, the daily average stood at 13.

The Auxiliary Secretariat for Regulation and Accreditation of Health Facilities (SARAFS) issued a warning to hospitals on Friday. “SARAFS has recently become aware that hospitals have breached and continue to breach their obligations to report hospitalization and / or death data to the Department. Such a procedure is unacceptable and, what is worse, has an impact on in a negative way in the trust that the Puerto Rican people place in their governmental institutions “, pointed out Edwin León Pérez, Assistant Secretary of SARAFS, in a letter addressed to the hospital institutions.

No information Public Safety about their vaccinations

On the other hand, the Department of Public Safety (DSP) was unable to pinpoint the number of workers at this agency who already received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Phase 1-b vaccination – which includes front-line workers – began on Monday, January 11, with the inoculation of 300 SDP employees at each of the six regional centers of the National Guard, according to had reported.

Specifically, the 300 vaccines per center for the six negotiated for the DSP umbrella would be divided into 150 for the police, 25 for Emergency Management, 40 for 911, 40 for Firefighters, 30 for Emergencies Medical and 15 for Special Investigations. Alexis Torres, the designated secretary of the DSP, has indicated in a previous interview that the parasol has approximately 15,000 workers.

In theory, if the number of vaccines per center was sustained, all DSP employees should be vaccinated, but the agency has not provided the information even though it has been requested since last Thursday. . Torres was not available for interview yesterday.