Posted on 05/08/2020 3:10:33 PM PDT by cll
Secretary of the Department of Health (DS), Lorenzo González Feliciano said on Friday that the peak period of COVID-19 coronavirus infections in Puerto Rico has passed, although it is still important to maintain individual preventive measures and those implemented by the government .
"Despite all the crises [Puerto Rico] has had recently, we are [blessed]. Whoever believes that this is false does not live in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is [blessed]. We have had a lot of crises and we have survived all of them, and the blow has been hard but we got up,” said González Feliciano in a radio interview (WKAQ).
Upon assuming the leadership of the DS at the end of last March, the official had indicated that the peak period of infections on the island would be between May 4 and 8. [It actually happened in mid-April].
"Categorically, yes (the peak has passed). We have to look prospectively at how we transform and modify the quarantine process. The governor will receive input from the Health Department, from the other secretaries, particularly from the economic sector, to see how we continue the process of normalization in our country. What we see today is something that should give us a certain sense of tranquility and a little bit of peace but we should not let our guard down, ” he said.
Puerto Ricans use the Spanish word "país" to refer to its territory. It is literally translated as "country", but not in the sense of a "nation". Like TJ used to call Virginia and Virginians "my country" and "my countrymen".
I got my hands on the report issued by the government task force in charge of these things to justify the reopening, and here are the highlights:
For reference, Puerto Rico is about the size of Connecticut and has a population of 3.2 million.
Peak infection occured around April 8. Peak deaths around April 15. The first deaths were traced back to early March (it had been originally reported that the first death was in late March, that of an Italian tourist, but the first death was actually a local woman who had traveled to New York in February).
There were 65,000+ "essential" workers out in the streets, of which close to half worked in high-risk of contagion jobs like medical and food supply chain. Out of those, 25 (yes, only TWENTY FIVE) were infected during the period of March 15 through April 21. I am pretty sure there were much more people out and about, many times over. I was one of those who never stopped going to work.
During the same period, 2% (TWO PERCENT) of all hospitalizations were COVID-19 related.
Hospital occupancy remained at below 30% during the same period.
50% of all ICU beds were available during the same period.
79% of all ventilators went unused as well.
The death rate per million inhabitants sits at 31, one of the lowest in the United States.
Courtesy ping.
Great News, thanks cll.
They are very patriotic down there, from those I have known.
Thanks for the update.
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