News
Thursday 21st October 2021.
October 21, 2021
Panama arrived this Wednesday, October 20, at 7,300 deaths from Covid-19 . The epidemiology report of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) highlights that in the last 24 hours two deaths have been reported. It adds that they update a death from an earlier date. In the last 24 hours, 257 new Covid-19 infections have been reported , bringing the number of accumulated cases in the country to 470,855. In the last hours, 9,177 tests have been carried out, which gives a positivity percentage of 2.8%. On the other hand, it was reported that 191 people have recovered from Covid-19 in the last hours. The total number of people who have overcome the disease since the first case was detected, amounts to 461,236. Currently, 2,115 patients are in home isolation (2,029 at home and 86 in hotels) and 204 in hospitals of these 167 are in the ward and 37 in the intensive care unit.
In its biweekly report on the situation of Covid-19 in Panama, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) highlighted that in the last five weeks the country has registered a positivity of cases below 4.3%. According to the report, this downward incidence has occurred since Epidemiological Week (EW) 37 and that in EW41 it reached 2.9%. “According to PAHO / WHO, one of the epidemiological criteria to consider if the pandemic is controlled is that less than 5% of the samples analyzed are positive for Covid-19 at least during the last two weeks and that there is a comprehensive surveillance ”.
On the afternoon of this Wednesday, October 20, various groups of organized civil society held a demonstration against the electoral reforms approved on October 15 at the National Assembly . The protesters walked through various sectors of Calidonia on their way to the Plaza de la Catedral, in San Felipe, to protest against the changes to the Electoral Code .
The Government Commission of the National Assembly accepted this Wednesday afternoon, the partial objection of President Laurentino Cortizo to the electoral reforms. Later, it was sent to the legislative plenary session, which immediately included it on the day’s agenda. This is the veto of a single article of bill 544 (referring to an amnesty), which reforms the Electoral Code . Cortizo points out that he objects due to inconvenience to Article 227 The deputies agreed to eliminate article 227.
The joint statement of the presidents of the Alliance for Development in Democracy highlights their concern about the political crisis and human rights in Nicaragua, where elections will be held on November 7 with only the participation of the ruling party. Illegal migration that especially affects the countries of the region was another of the points discussed in the meeting between the presidents Laurentino Cortizo (Panama); Carlos Alvarado (Costa Rica), and Luis Abinader (Dominican Republic). The replacement work of concrete slabs on the Ricardo J. Alfaro road (Tumba Muerto) restarted this yesterday. The Minister of Public Works, Rafael Sabonge , toured the area, where he said that these works should be completed by the end of next summer.
If the claim of unconstitutionality presented by Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal for the wiretapping case is granted , the decision would not only have an adverse effect on the oral trial that is currently being followed by the former president, but also on the public appreciation of the Supreme Court as the pinacle of justice, since it would contradict its own rulings and, with it, it would substantially reduce the value of its decisions, damaging the country’s institutionality. This was warned by former magistrate Harry Díaz , who acted as prosecutor in the process followed by the ex-president, when the jurisdiction was held by the CSJ, between 2015 and 2018. Díaz broke his silence to refer to a draft ruling prepared by magistrate Cecilio Cedalise , which would declare unconstitutional an oral decision, of July 4, 2018, issued by the then magistrate judge of guarantees Jerónimo Mejía . In that decision, Mejía rejected a challenge from Martinelli’s defense, which questioned the holding of an accusation hearing in the wiretapping case, without first having an imputation. “To continue invoking that there is a violation of due process because the accusation is skipped, it would be a total absurdity on the part of the Court. It would be contradicting all the previous decisions and, worst of all, is that here there is no ambiguity with the Criminal Procedure Code. I do not know how many times the Court pointed this out, but in a previous ruling, which is dated January 30, 2018, in the case of pardons, it indicated that more than an ordinary complaint had been fulfilled, because that is what the procedure required and in subsequent rulings everything was corrected. The texts are clear … This would be very, very serious, because it is evident that there is corruption behind this and that, simply, the citizens feel crime is unpunished by not being able to react in view of the majority of magistrates who could lend themselves to this type of legal trickery, ”Díaz told La Prensa , this Wednesday.
The National Energy Secretariat published this Wednesday, October 20, in the Official Gazette , the new maximum prices for fuel sales to the public. The 95-octane gallon and 91-octane gasoline will increase 5 cents per liter or 19 cents per gallon, while low sulfur diesel increases 4 cents or 18 per gallon. These new fuel prices will be in force from 6:00 am on October 22 until 5:59 am on November 5, 2021. With this increase, the liter of 95 octane gasoline will be sold in the cities of Panama and Colón at a maximum price of 97 hundredths per liter. The 91 octane liter of gasoline will have a maximum sale price at stations of 95 cents; while in the case of diesel, the liter will be sold at a ceiling price of 86 cents.