Panama celebrates Mothers' Day amid coronavirus pandemic

Mother's Day in Panama did not experience the shopping boom of other years on Tuesday.

People celebrated this date with restraint and modesty, as trade and economy have been hit hard by the pandemic.

Musicians are one of the sectors most affected by the pandemic, especially in December, when orchestras, traditional music groups and mariachis normally perform frequently.

Ricardo Acosta has been performing Mother's Day serenades for almost three decades. This year his job has been harder than ever since he lost his mother to coronavirus in the middle of the year.

"There are times when we feel sad, we go to many houses to play, there are ladies very similar to my mother and for me it is difficult to sing," said Acosta, whose day began in the morning with a trip to the populous sector of Victoriano Lorenzo, in San Miguelito, where he brought serenades to women in the Catholic Church of Christ Resurrected.

With the increase in coronavirus cases in recent weeks, authorities extended the nighttime curfew in Panama province and intensified calls for Panamanians to stay home.

Due to the curfew, serenades are given during the day and not at night or early in the morning as was customary.

As of Tuesday, Panama reported 179,230 accumulated cases of coronavirus and 3,212 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.