Panama to ease COVID-19 restrictions to resume operations in country

The Panama government on May 26 reportedly said that next month the country will start to relax measures imposed to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus. While addressing a press conference, Panama’s Health Minister Rosario Turner said that in June the country will permit sectors such as construction, nonmetallic mining, and pharmaceuticals to resume operations.

Rosario said, “Starting on Monday, June 1, the opening of the second block of economic activities can begin”. 

Commerce Minister Ramon Marinez further called it ‘second stage’ of reopening the economy and added that the textile, electronics and electricity sectors will also be able to resume operations. Moreover, Martinez informed that Panama’s curfew will also be relaxed, and places of worship, parks and sporting facilities may also reopen at up to 25 per cent capacity. 

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Panama was the first country to announce a strict quarantine measure that separated citizens by gender. The government has allowed both men and women to step out of the house for two hours, however, on different days. The gender-wise restrictions were to protect and save the life of every citizen, said security minister Juan Pino. 

With a comparatively lower number of confirmed coronavirus cases, the authorities recently also informed that 41 migrants had been tested positive of the virus and nearly 119 others were in quarantine at a relief station near the border with Colombia. Last month, in a bid to treat COVID-19 patients, the authorities also inaugurated the Panama City hospital. President Laurentino Cortizo had also said that the hospital was a part of a border strategy and will allow an aggressive testing program that will help authorities to identify people with the virus and devise a plan to begin treating them. 

(Image: @angelslopezl/Unsplash) 

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