Panamanian ministers and businessmen met on Tuesday afternoon to learn about the current situation of Covid-19 in the country and evaluate some of the measures that would be being taken to mitigate the contagion of cases without causing an impact on economic growth.
The Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre, explained that the meeting was attended by the Ministers of Labor, Commerce and Industries, as well as the administrator of the Tourism Authority of Panama (ATP) and a representation of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (Cciap) to address how the pandemic is evolving, how the economy is doing, to evaluate some mild measures and discuss other issues that could come in the future.
“This type of issues that the Chamber of Commerce is interested in, for example we are looking at the complete vaccination scheme now that we are talking about three vaccines, instead of two, remember that what is being suggested in the Decree is that between effective as of January 28, however we have been talking and there is the possibility of an extension until mid-February to take into account as a complete scheme, it will also be seen how the country can reinforce the tourist part and help the growth of the economy, “he remarked.
Sucre announced that mild measures have already been taken, such as in some provinces, such as Los Santos and Herrera, which are the provinces with the highest incidence of cases, where he indicated that mass activities have been spaced so that they are not given to the same time, since there is no excess of these activities.
For its part, the Chamber of Commerce asked the Minsa to analyze the reduction of isolation to 7 days instead of 10 days for positives, however Minister Sucre indicated that they are governed by the instructions of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO ) and these do not suggest reducing the days of isolation.
Rubén Castillo, from the National Council of Private Enterprise (Conep), for his part, said that private enterprise will collaborate in the common goal of defeating the pandemic and reactivating the national economy.
“In general terms, there are no restriction measures, there are some issues that have to do with mass activities and reinforcing the application of biosafety measures, issues that in the end do not concern us as much, as if we would be concerned about extreme measures of restriction or closure. Castillo said.
