Monday
Monday 6th June 2022.
June 6, 2022
The epidemiological report of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) registers 1,942 new infections of covid-19 and 5 deaths in the last hours. With these new cases, the total number of accumulated cases increases to 873,794 and the total deaths to 8,275. The new infections were detected after 9,484 tests were applied this Sunday for a positivity of 20.5%. The report also indicates that there are 27,709 active cases, of which 27,404 are in home isolation and 305 hospitalized. Those in isolation are divided into 27,359 at home and 45 in hotels. Regarding hospitalized patients, it was known that there are 272 in the ward and 33 in the intensive care unit.
The National Directorate of Electoral Organization (DNOE) of the Electoral Tribunal (TE) approved the holding of an extraordinary national congress of the Realizing Goals (RM) party, at the request of its president, Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal. The endorsed calendar is interposed with the hearing that the Third Criminal Court will hold from July 18 to August 5, for the Odebrecht case, a process in which Martinelli and two of his sons are imprisoned and recently sentenced in New York for bribes from this same company. The date of this emblematic case, with more than 60 defendants, was set seven months ago, on November 1, 2021. In this way, Martinelli, who is currently protected from the action of justice because he enjoys criminal electoral jurisdiction as a result of the prolongation of an internal electoral process that was held on April 24 (the election in the secretariats of the Women and Youth), would further extend this legal armor.
Up until Saturday, 43 people had presented their documentation to replace José Ayú Prado in the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. The only thing that is known about most of these applicants is that they are Panamanian, lawyers and over 35 years of age. It is not known if they have mastered criminal law, if they have the capacity to apply the law or have common sense and the maturity to conduct themselves before other powers of the State and deal more decorously with an apparently trivial issue, such as an invitation to a deputy’s wedding.
At a time when the city of Panama faces a possible health risk due to the accumulation of garbage in areas of several communities, the state apparatus faces a great challenge: the prompt implementation of Law 276 of December 30, 2021, on garbage management. comprehensive solid waste program in Panama. This regulation published in the Official Gazette on December 31, 2021 is supposed to be the roadmap to change the dynamics of years of laziness in relation to the collection and disposal of waste in the country, and will come into force next month, that is to say in July. What does this new regulation establish? According to the document —which consists of 84 articles—, entities such as the Urban and Home Cleaning Authority (AAUD), the Ministry of Health and the municipalities will assume the functions of the responsibility of garbage management in the country.
After almost two months of questions about the whereabouts of more than 9,000 books in the library of the National Institute (IN), the Ministry of Education (Meduca) begins to give clues as to what happened. “Moisture, fungi, termites and mites turned a large percentage of the books in the ‘Nido de Águilas’ library into waste and could have become a health problem among students, teachers and administrative staff, due to the unsanitary conditions that was presented in the library”, indicated a statement from the entity detailing that, on June 1, Meduca representatives gave details of the subject to students and teachers, in a meeting at the IN headquarters where the rector participated. Roxana Casanova and Vice Chancellor Richard Dinger. According to the statement, which cites the auditor Santos Bonilla, in November 2019 there were 9,583 books, of which 98% showed deterioration.
The Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (Cciap) made an “urgent” call to local authorities throughout the country “so that, once and for all, they give the decentralization law the use and character for which it was created”. The statement of the Cciap arises as a result of the different claims and protests of communities that ask for answers to their basic needs. For the Cciap, the discomfort expressed by residents of the provinces of Colón, Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, Panama and West Panama, among others, “are a clear sign that the decentralization law is not fulfilling its mission.”
The Canadian National Team reported, this Sunday, June 5, that the friendly match scheduled for today against Panama at BC Place (Vancouver) was cancelled. A tweet from the Canadian National Team notes that additional details will be provided to all ticket buyers soon. For its part, the Panamanian Soccer Federation (Fepafut) also announced on its Twitter account that the Canadian Soccer Association canceled the friendly match that was scheduled for this Sunday between both teams. Canadian media point out that the cancellation of the game is due to a protest made by the team, led by John Herdman, as a demand for benefits for the players heading to Qatar 2022.
The tourism industry is beginning to show signs of recovery in Panama. The arrival of international tourists grew between January and February by 399.1%, going from 54,619 tourists in the first two months of 2021 to 272,622 tourists in the same months of this year, according to the report of the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP). Through the Tocumen International Airport, 216,057 international travelers entered, which represented 79.3%, while through Paso Canoas, 15,573 people, in cruise ports 17,150 and through other ports of entry of 23,842 people is calculated. According to the ATP, the average length of stay for a visitor in Panama is approximately 8 days and they spend an average of 2,595 dollars per stay, which is equivalent to 324 dollars per day.