News
Wednesday 2nd February 2022.
February 2, 2022
In the last 24 hours, 17 deaths from Covid-19 were registered in Panama, bringing the total number of deaths to 7,752, reported the Ministry of Health (Minsa). 3 deaths from previous dates were also updated. The epidemiological report indicates that there were 5,606 new infections. To detect the new cases, 25,846 tests were applied for a positivity of 21.6%. The report adds that there are 57,436 active cases, of which 56,647 are in home isolation and 789 hospitalized. Those in isolation are divided into 56,432 at home and 215 in hospital hotels. While 713 patients are hospitalized in the ward and 76 in the intensive care units.
An epidemiology report from the Children’s Hospital reflects that there has been an increase in cases of Covid-19 in recent weeks, with 483 infections confirmed in January. For the first month of the year, the hospital also reported 90 hospitalized and 8 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) due to the virus.The information was disclosed in a statement from the Ministry of Health (Minsa), specifying that in 2020, 559 cases of coronavirus were recorded in the hospital, of which 237 patients required hospitalization and 41 were admitted to the ICU. Regarding the figures for 2021, the report details that there were 427 confirmed cases, 201 were hospitalized and 32 remained in the ICU.
The Cabima Consortium -made up of Constructora Meco SA and Constructora Meco Panamá SA- appealed to the Administrative Court of Public Procurement to stop the bidding process for best value for the design, construction and financing of an interchange at the entrance of La Cabima, district of Mayor Diaz, in northern Panama. On January 25, the construction company filed an appeal against a resolution of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) which authorized the award of a million-dollar project in favor of the C&T La Cabima Consortium, made up of the companies Constructora Urbana, SA (Cusa ) and Toronto Holdings, SA.
Historian Pedro Salmerón announced his resignation as a candidate for Mexico’s ambassador to Panama. This was reported by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in his usual morning conference on Tuesday. López Obrador said that he received a letter from Salmerón (dated January 30, 2022) – “whom I hold in high esteem and consider a first-rate historian” – which he told him at the time he declined the appointment. “As if it were the Holy Inquisition, the Foreign Minister of Panama [Erika Mouynes] was dissatisfied because they disagreed at the ITAM [Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico] and asked us not to send the approval request,” said the president of Mexico, who said he regretted such decision.
Through Resolution No.37 of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) , published in the Official Gazette on January 28, the requirements that rapid or self-applied tests must meet to obtain the sanitary registration for sale in the country were established. After advertisements for the sale of rapid or self-administered tests for the detection of the Covid-19 disease circulated on social networks, the Ministry of Health (Minsa) reiterated that these tests —in accordance with Executive Decree No.5 of January 24 of 2022— must be endorsed by the Gorgas Commemorative Institute for Health Studies (Icges) in order to be marketed.
The bodies of two Americans who were traveling on the aircraft that crashed on January 3 in Punta Chame were recovered on Tuesday, A 70-year-old woman and a 57-year-old man had been missing since the crash. The Civil Aeronautical Authority reported that the discovery of the lifeless bodies was achieved after 690 hours of searching.
In recent months the flow of migrants through Panama has decreased significantly and in January of this year the national authorities registered an average of 140 per day.The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Erika Mouynes , highlighted that the actions that Panama led with the countries of the region have contributed to this decrease in migrants, who cross the border through the Darién (border with Colombia) to continue their course towards the United States.