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Thursday 23rd June 2022.

June 23, 2022

 

The Ministry of Health (Minsa) reported that 1,957 new infections of covid-19 were registered in the last 24 hours , while the number of active cases is 15,887. According to data from the Department of Epidemiology of the Minsa, no deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, although three from previous dates have updated. Since the pandemic arrived in the country in March 2020, 8,332 deaths from the virus have been confirmed, for a fatality rate of 0.9%. It is specified that the 1,957 new cases were detected after the application of 10,470 tests, for a positivity of 18.7%. Of the 15,887 active cases, the Minsa details that 15,656 are people who are in home isolation and 231 hospitalized. Those in isolation are divided into 15,637 at home and 19 in  hospital hotels. Those hospitalized are 197 in the ward and 34 in intensive care.

The Cabinet Council approved this Wednesday, June 22, to temporarily modify the import tariff on whole milk powder to 0%, until next December. The Executive Body reported that the measure is taken to avoid a shortage of dairy products and that it would be until December 31, 2022 or a date before, when the imported quantities exceed 1,600 metric tons. “Currently the national production of whole milk powder from domestic raw milk is almost zero, which makes the national industry that produces dairy products and uses this milk as raw material, dependent on importation,” said the official. Minister of Agricultural Development, Augusto Valderrama, according to a statement from the Presidency of the Republic.

During an inspection carried out Tuesday, personnel from the Ombudsman’s Office revealed the shortage of meat products in the kitchen of the Arnulfo Arias Madrid hospital complex of the Social Security Fund (CSS), located on the Transístmica highway. Said personnel did not observe these products neither in the food storage cold rooms nor on the menu, for which they proceeded to open a complaint for the alleged violation of the human rights of the patients. For its part, the CSS explained that in the inspection carried out on Tuesday, it was explained to the Ombudsman that there is a situation of “non-compliance” by some suppliers, for which there has been a delay in the delivery of products. Likewise, it was explained that the diets of the patients are according to the prescription of the doctors. In this sense, Gustavo Santamaría, national director of the Health Services of the CSS, stressed that it is important that the population understand what a diet regulated by nutrition is and at the request of the treating physicians, who establish the diet according to the pathology of the patient.

The study, prepared by the American Society/Council of Americas and Control Risks, published yesterday, Tuesday, indicates that Panama “had a 9% growth in its global score, going from ninth place in 2021 to seventh in 2022.” Panama is below Uruguay, Costa Rica, Chile, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Argentina, which are in the top places for obtaining high scores.

The statement by the President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo , last Monday, June 20, in which he acknowledged having been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome , requires a responsible and civic reaction on the part of the citizenry. Panama does not face any risk of political acephaly or gaps in the constitutional procedures that must be carried out. Article 187 of the Political Constitution of the Republic of Panama , establishes that the president may request a license of up to 90 calendar days from the Cabinet Council, and if he requires more time, he will have to request authorization from the National Assembly. Remember that the license implies that the president temporarily departs from the position. Instead, article 188 of the constitutional text regulates presidential absences. According to this article, the president can be absent (remain outside the country) for up to 10 calendar days without the need to request any authorization. To be absent for a period that exceeds 10 days but does not exceed 30 days, he will need authorization from the Cabinet Council, and finally, for any absence greater than 30 days, authorization from the National Assembly is required. The absent President continues to exercise his authority as president.

The Attorney General’s Office will have a budget of $400,358 for some four programs focused on preventing drug use in Panama at the national level. For this, the attorney in charge, Javier Caraballo , requested an additional credit before the Budget Commission of the National Assembly, which approved the request in the session of June 21.

At 5:40 am this Wednesday, June 22, 2022, flight 214 of the Panamanian airline Copa Airlines from Guayaquil (Ecuador) arrived at terminal 2 (T2) of the Tocumen International Airport. The arrival of this flight became the first operation of the new terminal, which began to operate formally starting yesterday, with baggage processing and passenger check-in. Copa Airlines is the first airline to fully offer airport services from T2. Other companies such as KLM, United Airlines and Air France are expected to do so later, said Raffoul Arab , general manager of the air terminal The work has an approximate surface of 116 thousand square meters, distributed in four levels; It is 662 meters long, with a connecting building 112 meters long and up to 30 meters high in the main infrastructure. Travelers who have both arrival and departure flights from Panama, and flights to David, Chiriquí, with the airline Copa Airlines , will have to use Terminal 2 of Tocumen, open for the processing of passengers from this Wednesday, June 22 .

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