News
Tuesday 24th May 2022.
May 24, 2022
The epidemiological report of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) of this Monday, May 23, detailed that in the last 24 hours two deaths were reported due to covid-19, for a cumulative of 8,229 deaths and a lethality of 1.0%. In addition, 832,045 confirmed accumulated cases of those infected with the virus are reported, of which 1,758 are new. According to the entity, 8,435 tests were applied for a positivity of 20.8%. While active cases total 26,614 throughout the country. Of the active cases, a total of 26,356 are in isolation and 258 hospitalized. Those who are in isolation are divided into 26,273 in their residence and 83 in the so-called hospital hotels. There are also 224 patients on the wards and 34 in the intensive care units.
In Panama, there is still no suspected case of the monkeypox virus, the Ministry of Health (Minsa) reported on Monday afternoon. Panama, like the rest of the world, is attentive to the alert recently issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) after the confirmation of 67 cases in Europe, of which 36 are in Spain. The director of Public Health of the Minsa, Melva Cruz, explained that monkeypox is a viral zoonosis with symptoms very similar to those that occurred in patients who suffered from this disease in the past. According to the WHO, the infection can be divided into two stages. The first is incubation, which can last from zero to five days, and the second is skin rash, which can vary from one to three days, after the onset of fever. This skin condition usually affects the face in 95% of cases, the palms of the hands and feet in 75%.
José Atencio, 48, who is detained for the disappearance of three young women, was charged with the crime of human trafficking in a hearing held on Monday, May 23, in the city of David. Atencio was charged at the request of the Specialized Homicide and Femicide Section of the Regional Prosecutor’s Office of the province of Chiriquí. Prosecutor Hernán de Jesús Mora maintained that during the investigation he discovered new elements that prove the alleged commission of a crime of human trafficking, since the minor on the day of the events left her residence after allegedly having been contacted for a job of work. Mora did not rule out the possibility of formulating new charges in the other two investigations carried out by the institution.
On its fifteenth day of strike, the Coalition of Unity for Colón (Cuco) continues with road closures in the province and public transport remains paralyzed on nine bus routes. The general strike has also caused the suspension of face-to-face classes and the impact on the economy in the province of Colón continues. This Monday, May 23, the protests began with road closures near Icacal, on the Abajo coast. There were also protests in Las Mercedes, on Costa Arriba, on 16th Street, at the entrance and exit of the city of Colón and in Río Alejandro, in Puerto Pilón, the latter reopened by the National Police. For its part, the Cuco leadership is waiting for a meeting where Monsignor Rómulo Emiliani will serve as mediator to achieve concrete answers to the social problems presented to the executive of the province of Colón.
Artisanal fishermen went out to protest on Monday morning in various parts of the country. The demonstrations have taken place at the height of the seafood market, on the coastal strip. Similar actions are recorded in Herrera, Coclé and Veraguas. The fishermen demand concrete answers from the Government in the face of the increase in fuel prices. They allege that only public transport drivers have received support (subsidies) from government authorities. At the site of the coastal strip protest, riot police fired tear gas to reopen the vehicular passage.
The state payroll is one of the components of government spending that puts the greatest pressure on public debt, marked since the pandemic arrived, in the midst of a difficult fiscal situation because income remains below spending. In March 2022, the payroll registered a total of 246,684 officials and a monthly gross salary of $399.8 million, according to the report of the Comptroller General of the Republic. In the first three months of 2022, the accumulated state payroll expense totaled 1,176 million dollars, an increase of $52.6 million compared to the first quarter of 2021. In these first three months, on average, the payroll increased by 5,000 employees each month, in relation to the same months of last year; and spending growth of more than $17 million per month.
Starting this Monday, May 23, Transporte Massivo de Panamá, SA (MiBus) temporarily changed its strategy, passing 30 main routes to complementary ones. The company that manages the public transport service in the districts of Panama and San Miguelito announced that to meet the demand of the peripheries they will increase the frequency to the paid areas of Metro Pedregal, Los Andes and 5 de Mayo, where the buses start service to the city and vice versa to these connectivity points. These are the strategies announced by the company in the face of the energy and logistics crisis that is being experienced worldwide.