News
Thursday 7th July 2022.
July 7, 2022
Panama, one of the countries with the most detected cases of covid-19 in Central America, is entering a new stage in the fight against the pandemic focused on learning to live with the virus, which will eventually involve annual vaccination against the disease, the Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre told EFE. “Panama has been evolving, it has been maturing, and in the end what we have to do is learn to live with this virus. We will possibly have an annual vaccine, just as it happens with influenza. And to learn to live together we must take steps”, Sucre declared. The suspension of the mandatory use of the mask, which will take place when a fifth pandemic wave is in decline, is taking place “without losing sight” that, as has happened in other countries, “Panama could become complicated again” with the covid- 19, Sucre admitted. “I think that the mask also arrived, along with the covid, to be part of our lives, but it is already a choice of each one of us (…) it is a matter of each one how he lives with the virus, how I love myself care,” said Sucre.
The teachers’ unions that are demanding action from the government to face the high cost of living and the increase in fuel prices, continue to strike and protest in various provinces of the country. A meeting was planned for this Wednesday between the leaders of the educators’ unions and representatives of the Executive in the province of Veraguas, in order to reach an understanding. The government commission was headed by the Minister of Education, Maruja Gorday de Villalobos, accompanied by representatives of the Ministry of Commerce, among other entities. Personnel from the Ombudsman’s Office also attended.On the other hand, the leadership of the Teachers Association of Panama (Asoprof) announced this Wednesday a strike of 72 hours that can be extended and also went out to protest in the capital city, to demand answers from the government to these demands on the cost of living. The decision was made after a meeting that took place in the Auditorium of the University of Panama.
The Medicines Technical Table proposed this Wednesday, July 6, after a meeting in the Peace Room of the Presidency, the creation of a subcommittee to define the parameters for the “international purchase” of medicines. This was revealed in a statement in which it was clarified that the members of the table will deliver that proposal to President Laurentino Cortizo next week. Another point that was analyzed in the meeting was the progress of the MedicSol program (Solidarity Medicines). To strengthen it, it was also proposed that through an executive decree, Title IV of Law No. 1 of 2001 on medicines be regulated. “The spirit of this technical table is to find a prompt solution for the benefit of Panamanians who need it most. I would like things to be much faster than they really are, but we are moving in the right direction”, concluded the vice president.
The independent bench requested this Wednesday, July 6, the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Antai) to carry out an inspection process on forms 001, 002, 004 and 172 of the National Assembly to detect possible breaches of the Code of Ethics , specifically that of nepotism. They also asked tem to investigate the central government spreadsheets. The deputies Gabriel Silva, Juan Diego Vásquez, Edison Broce and Raúl Fernández based their request on the fact that Law 13 of 2013 empowers Antai to sanction officials who commit violations of the Code of Ethics . The request comes a day after a complaint was circulated indicating that deputy Adán Bejerano, who recently resigned from the independent caucus, allegedly had relatives named on the legislative payroll.
The National Migration Service reported that in the first six months of 2022, it detected some 947 foreigners who had criminal cases at the Tocumen International Airport. It was reported that the respective alerts received by the Panamanian authorities come from the countries of origin of these people or from a third nation. Migration Panama also specified that in the air terminal, from January to June of this year, 214 people with fraudulent documentation and 7,522 inadmissible (for various reasons) were detected.
Officials from the Office of Innovation of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) recently created an application to locate holes in the city’s roads. They baptized it as the ‘Road Inspector’. The objective: to create an updated record of road damages in real time and georeferenced, “to more efficiently manage the maintenance work carried out by the institution.” It is a “pilot plan” that in its first stage will cover the metropolitan area and is “open to improvements,” the ministry said in a statement. “With this new application, all the activities carried out by the MOP can be entered, classified as patching work, road construction, cleaning, dismantling, removal, repair and other damage,” he says. The main complaint from drivers is the poor condition of the different streets in the capital. Most of the main roads have huge potholes.
The Mayor’s Office of Panama began this Wednesday, July 6, with the delivery of the decals whose vehicle plates correspond to the month of January 2022. But users must schedule an appointment on the site www.citas.mupa.gob.pa to be able to remove said decal. The mayor’s office explained that the measure is to avoid crowds and maintain order. Only taxpayers with a January plate will be able to make appointments.
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