News
Tuesday 7th June 2022.
June 7, 2022
The Ministry of Health (Minsa) reported 1,692 new infections of covid-19 in the last 24 hours, while active cases amount to 26,026. According to data from the Department of Epidemiology of the Minsa, in the last few hours 8,233 tests were applied for a positivity of 20.6%. Regarding the deaths, the Health authorities point out that no deaths were registered, however one from previous dates is added. Panama has accumulated 8,276 for a fatality rate of 0.9%. Of the 26,026 active cases, it is detailed that 25,696 are in home isolation and 330 hospitalized. Those in isolation are divided into 25,660 at home and 36 in the hospital hotels. Those hospitalized are 293 in the Wards and 37 in intensive care. In addition, it is reported that the districts with the most positive cases to date are Bella Vista, San Francisco and Betania with 59 each. Meanwhile, José Domingo Espinar, in San Miguelito, registered 49 cases.
An administrative complaint to investigate the actions of the officials of the National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information (Antai), was filed this Monday by the lawyer Ernesto Cedeño, as a result of the $1,000 fine applied by that entity. to the digital medium La Verdad. According to Cedeño, Antai violated regulations that enshrine the right to information by sanctioning the aforementioned digital medium for having published a marriage certificate concerning a judicial process, with the prior authorization of one of the parties. In this case, he alleged, there has been a clear violation of rulings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which establishes “that the exercise of journalism can only be carried out freely when the people who carry it out are not victims of threats or aggression. physical, psychological or moral or other acts of harassment.
More than 70 participants were present at the homologation meeting held by the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) of the tender document that will be used to prequalify the companies that will bid for the first contract under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) legislation ) that the Government will award, a model that the current administration wants to promote to attract Foreign Direct Investment. This first contract will award the rehabilitation and maintenance of 246 kilometers of highway in the eastern sector of the province of Panama to Yaviza.
The President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo , travelled yesterday to the city of Los Angeles, United States, to participate in the IX Summit of the Americas. The president will be accompanied by the first lady, Yazmín Colón de Cortizo ; Foreign Minister Erika Mouynes ; the Panamanian ambassador in Washington, Ramón Martínez ; the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Frederico Alfaro ; the ambassador, María Roquebert ; the consul Gilda García; and Dr. Camilo Alleyne .
On the night of May 30, a 16-year-old teenager died while trying to rob a store in San Miguelito. The attacker suffered several bullet wounds from the owner of the business. The Minister of Security, Juan Pino, warns that there is an increase in the participation of minors in high-profile criminal acts, such as armed robberies, drug sales and sexual crimes. In the first quarter of this year, according to data provided by Pino, 265 minors were related to high-impact criminal cases, 27 of them linked to homicide, robberies 111, theft 79, drugs 11.
For the third time, the Renovación Urbana Vía España consortium (made up of Centroequipos, SA, and Gami Ingeniería e Instalaciones, SA) received the highest score in the tender for the ‘turnkey’ contract for the widening of the Vía España 4 lanes from the intersection of Via Porras, to Cinquantenario Avenue. After the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) completely annulled the first report, and the General Directorate of Public Procurement (DGCP) requested a partial review of the second evaluation, the commission qualified with 95.3 points the offer of 90.6 million dollars presented by the Vía España Urban Renewal consortium.
The number of corregimientos in the country increases every five years, in such a way that the map of the political division of Panama becomes more and more atomized. By 2024, a total of 22 new districts will be added to the 679 that currently exist. Thus, with the creation of these zones, the number of authorities that Panamanians must elect on May 5, 2024 is increased, on this occasion, 701 new corregimiento representatives. Of the 22 new areas, 20 were endorsed by the current National Assembly, in the hands of deputies from the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) and sanctioned by the President of the Republic, Laurentino Cortizo, also a member of that political group. In addition, they consider that the economic situation of the country is not taken into account, imposing more financial burden on the State, which annually must deliver, among other items, $110,000 to each of the community boards, as part of the Public Works Investment Program ( former Pronadel). In addition, each community board annually costs an average of 371 thousand dollars.