By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

The Costa Rica Ministry of Health reported 1,193 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, bringing the country total to 38,485 confirmed cases.

Image by Koen One Stop Map from Pixabay

411 people are hospitalized, 140 of them in intensive care with an age range of 13 to 83 years.

Ten additional COVID-19 related deaths were reported, bringing the the total to 407.

In addition on Friday, the Ministry of Health published  the guidelines for the acquisition and use of serological tests for the identification of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. These blood tests allow us to identify if a person has been previously exposed to the virus that produces COVID-19 and therefore developed antibodies.

With this guideline, the governing body for health authorizes the use of tests to detect IgA, IgG, IgM and / or total antibodies that are processed through ELISA, Chemiluminescence or Electrochemiluminescence techniques, and that have an equal or greater sensitivity 85% and specificity equal to or greater than 90%. The Ministry of Health will grant the sanitary registration and authorization for the entry and commercialization of said serological tests.

Among the uses that are authorized are:

  •  Biomedical research studies, for example, observational, clinical research, duly authorized as established by Law 9234, Biomedical Research Regulatory Law.
  • Immune response studies to vaccines against COVID-19, duly authorized by the same bodies mentioned in the previous point.
  • Evaluation of the immune response of people who have recovered from COVID-19, for the process of donating and receiving therapeutic convalescent plasma.
  • Support for the diagnosis of special medical situations where patients present with late complications of COVID-19 such as multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children and adolescents (MISC) or Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS).
  • Users of private health services, as indicated by the treating physician.

Subscribe to Outbreak News TV on YouTube

It is worth clarifying that these tests will not be used for the diagnosis of the COVID-19 disease and may not be used to authorize the entry or exit of people to the country through any of the borders. Furthermore, the results of these tests should not be used to define labor actions such as entry, re-entry, exit, hiring, firing, opening or closing of work and study centers.