Friday

Friday 22nd October 2021.

October 22, 2021

In the last 24 hours, 205 new infections have been registered and three people have died from Covid-19 , reported the Ministry of Health (Minsa), this Thursday. With the three new deaths, the death toll totals 7,303. The fatality rate is 1.5% The Minsa report indicates that 6,869 tests were applied and the positivity reached 2.9%. Currently in Panama there are 471,060 accumulated cases of coronavirus, of these 461,441 are the total people recovered since the first contagion was detected in the country. Of the active cases, which add up to 2,316, there are 2,115 in home isolation – in 2,020 at home and 95 in hotels – while of 201 hospitalized, 163 are in the ward and 38 in confined to the intensive care unit. The Minsa reported that the swab centers for the detection of Covid-19 remain open to the public.This free PCR and antigen testing service is available Monday through Sunday from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm

The Authority for Government Innovation (AIG) reported that Panamanians who have completed the complete immunization scheme against Covid-19 (two doses) in the national territory, will be granted the digital vaccination certificate of the European Union. “The European Union has recognized Panama’s digital vaccination certificate as a mechanism that will facilitate the right to free movement of Panamanian citizens in the European Union,” is highlighted in an AIG statement issued this Thursday.

The bill that dictates the General State Budget for the fiscal period of 2022 will have some “modifications” , which were approved this Thursday, by the Cabinet Council. After the adjustment, the budget was 25,294.7 million dollars and, according to Héctor Alexander, Minister of Economy and Finance, it complies with the levels of fiscal deficit included in the Law of Social Fiscal Responsibility.

“I have nothing to say to the media, since the draft ruling that decides that action of unconstitutionality was presented before the plenary session of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ).” This was the statement given by the magistrate of the Court, Cecilio Cedalise , days after it became known about the dissemination in the media of a draft ruling that he prepared and that grants a claim of unconstitutionality to the former Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli for the case of wiretapping. In the same act, the presiding magistrate of the CSJ, Luis Ramón Fábrega, referred to the dissemination of the draft ruling. “To draw conclusions from a project that is simply what its word indicates, a project, is to look for a problem where it does not exist,” he said.

The Financial Action Group (FATF) expressed its concern about the little progress of Panama in the execution of the action plan that was agreed with the international organization in 2019, to combat the deficiencies in the fight against money laundering and the financing of the terrorism . In a query from La Prensa , Marcus Pleyer, president of the FATF, said that the compliance dates for the action plan expired in January 2021 and urged Panama to move quickly to complete the action plan by February 2022, when the agency has its plenary meeting. If the next evaluation does not achieve a sufficient level of progress, the agency would consider new steps, such as, for example, including the country in the list of high-risk jurisdictions, better known as the black list.

The plenary session of the National Assembly approved on the morning of this Thursday, October 21, in a third debate, bill No. 544 after eliminating article No. 227, the only one of the reforms to the Electoral Code that was objected to by President Laurentino Cortizo. After a brief discussion, the deputies that make up the Government Commission approved recommending to the plenary session to approve the elimination of Article No. 227, which ordered an amnesty for the fines of candidates who failed to comply with the presentation of financial reports for their campaigns.

After knowing of the partial veto of President Laurentino Cortizo to the electoral reforms approved in the National Assembly, the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (Cciap) announced this Thursday, that it will join other actors of the civil society organized In order to present a claim of unconstitutionality before the Supreme Court of Justice against the norm that modifies the Electoral Code . The union considers that the main actors involved in this process – the Legislative and Executive Bodies and the Electoral Tribunal – have deprived the Panamanian democratic system of the possibility of advancing on transcendental issues for its strengthening.

Danilo Perez

The Panamanian musician Danilo Pérez has become one of the winners of the Doris Duke 2021 artistic award , which recognizes his career as a pianist and composer. Pérez is recognized for mixing the sounds of his Panamanian roots, Latin American folk music, West African rhythms and European impressionism, in order to create a jazz style that is a bridge that unites human beings within the framework of a work marked by education and social activism.

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