A Little Bit of Everything for a Tuesday Evening.
April 7, 2020
There’s always a lot going on in Panama, but today it’s been especially difficult which articles to choose from. The summary of it all is, the virus continues to spread, more and more people are being detained for not adhering to the quarantine orders, it’s becoming mandatory in several locations to wear your masks, the Panamanian government is constantly looking for ways to lessen the blow to the people:
1. Starting today no one will be allowed access to Merca Panamá without their mask.
a. https://www.critica.com.pa/nacional/nadie-entra-sin-mascarilla-merca-panama-576188
b. “ La Cadena de Frío” or the Cold Chain indicated to its clients and renters that go to Merca Panama, that they will have to use masks to enter the establishment. The sanitary measure is another preventive measure in their effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in Panamá. Riba Smith also informed their clients and personnel that for their own safety, as of April 7, everyone entering their stores will have to wear a mask of sorts.
These measures are going to spread just like everything else here does. Very soon, you’ll need to wear a mask before entering any establishment. I had the opportunity to chat today with the Chief of Security for Riba Smith, Eduardo Vergara. Eduardo Vergara, who’s a friend and colleague, explains that the measures were taken as another step to ensure the health and safety of their employees and customers. Riba Smith has been very well-organized in preparation for this pandemic, always one step ahead of their colleagues and competitors. Upon entry to any of their stores, the queues are properly spaced, national police officers are on site to confirm that everyone is within their respective schedule as per Panamanian decree. As you approach the entrance, your temperature is taken, you clean your feet on a damp mop and you’re given alcohol wipes for your shopping cart. They’ve really raised the bar for safety during this crisis.
2. Nearly 800 people were detained in the last 24 hours for noncompliance of the quarantine
a. https://www.telemetro.com/nacionales/2020/04/07/700-personas-detenidas-ultimas-24/2752089.html
b. The National Police (PN) has hauled off to detainment centers, a record total of 797 people throughout the country, for not complying with the quarantine standards mandated in recent days. Of these were 635 men, 119 women and 43 minors.
I’m sure that some of these were people who, due to their economic condition, absolutely needed to be on the road. But I’ll also be willing to bet that the majority were just doing whatever they felt like with no respect for the law, for themselves or for anyone else for that matter.
3. “Plan Panamá Solidario”, Panama’s Solidarity Plan Will be making bonus Payments by way of the Panama Cedula system.
b. Although still in the process of testing and validation, the plan Will use the cedula bar code option to make monthly payments to those who qualify. The government also decided to hand out food to the more needy sectors of Panama and their “libreta de bono” to other sectors. The Libreta de Bono is very similar to the Food Stamp system in the USA (but not as elegant) and will be handed out monthly. These bonos are worth a total of $80 (4 bonos of $20 each). The food bags are to be handed out every 15 days house to house with the exception of the comarcas, where the government plans to hand out “Mega Bags of Food” once a month.
In another article, the government confirmed that 224,883 bags of food have been delivered as well as 120,153 Libreta de Bono (Food Stamps). If that’s true, that means they’ve handed out $9,612,240.00 in Food Stamps in just the first couple of weeks.
4. Panamanian workers whose contracts have been suspended, will benefit from Panama’s Solidarity Plan.
a. https://www.telemetro.com/nacionales/2020/04/07/gobierno-entregado-400-mil-bolsas/2750994.html
b. Mitradel (the labor ministry) explained that as per the Executive Decree #81, which regulates the temporary labor contract suspension, a data base of the workers whose contracts have been suspended will be created. The companies that feel they need to suspend operations temporarily will have to file the following required paperwork to formalize the suspension: formal written request to suspend the contracts, copy of the company “aviso de operaciones” or operations notice, copy of the last payroll given to the Social Security Office, prior to the closure of the company, proof that the company was affected economically or the official order to close (from the government), data base in excel format of the workers information who are to have their contracts suspended.
Once the suspension request is approved, the workers information will be added to the Plan Panamá Solidario database.
It’s sounds like a lot, but the government is really working hard on allowing companies to get the documents through the system. More than 600 companies have applied for the suspension of contract since March 20 when the government authorized it. At the time, it wasn’t certain how the system was going to work, but many of these companies were already in distress well before the presidential order came out. It now seems that the pieces are coming together and the government will be taking further action to help employees and employers alike with this plan. I’m sure the number of companies applying for this will skyrocket now that MITRADEL has come out with more information on how to do it and how their employees will be taken care of. In consultation with our own Panama labor lawyer, he’s confident that the labor ministry is processing them thoroughly.
If you have a need for a labor lawyer I can highly recommend him and am authorized to give his contact information out upon request.
5. At what point is a COVID-19 patient considered “cured”.
a. https://www.prensa.com/impresa/panorama/cuando-se-considera-curado-un-paciente-con-covid-19/
b. A clinically tested recovery is that when a patient is without fever for a full 72 hours and has no more difficulty in breathing. This recovery could take two weeks from the time the first symptoms appear.
The article also talks about the molecular recovery of the disease. Once the fever drops and stays down for three days and the patient no longer has difficulty breathing, the doctors administer a PCR or Polymerase Chain Reaction test. This takes 7-10 days after the subject has tested positive. The test is repeated 24 hours later and the subject is then considered officially “recovered” when both tests come up negative.
6. Judy Meana, Vice-Mayor of Panama has requested and was approved for a leave of absence without salary; she’s going to be the new Governor.
a. https://www.telemetro.com/nacionales/2020/04/07/judy-meana-sera-gobernadora-panama/2753154.html
b. Judy Meana will be on a leave of absence without pay from April 16, 2020 to April16, 2022. The resolution was approved with all 25 votes in favor. Judy will be moving on to become the president-appointed governor of Panama starting April 16. She will still officially be the Vice-Mayor of Panama for the District of Panama.
I’ve known Judy personally now for roughly 20 years. When she was a news reporter for Telemetro back in the day, Judy and I worked some nearly impossible cases together finding the biological parents of several different kids. Many of these parents were in the USA and had no idea they even had a child in Panama. Judy has quite the resume in the private sector as well as in the public sector and is a great choice for governor. Felicidades Judy!!!
STATUS UPDATE:
Panama has detected another 149 cases, bringing the new total to 2,249. Of these, 59 have died and 16 have recovered. Of those still infected, 1,906 are isolated at home or in hotels designated to house infected patients. There are 268 people hospitalized; 91 of them are in ICU. A total of 10,681 tests have been administered in Panama so far and 8,334 of them have been negative.
I know it appears that Panama’s numbers are high when you compare them to neighboring countries; Costa Rica 483 cases, Venezuela 166 cases, El Salvador 78 cases. But keep in mind that these numbers do not represent the total amount of cases. They only represent the minimum amount of total cases for that country. In conversation today with a colleague from Australia, she said that in Burundi (Africa) they have a “joke”. “When asked why is it that you have only 3 cases, what’s your secret? Their response; simple, we have no test kits!” Panama however is blessed with one of the best Preventive Medicine Institutes in the world. The Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas is world renown for their research and development of cures and treatments for all sorts of illnesses. There was talk recently that they are developing or have already developed their own test kits for the corona virus. Just the same, with 5,000 kits donated to Panama from China as well as thousands more from other sources, Panama has an abundance of resources to handle the testing process.
Here’s a bit more about Gorgas in English.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instituto_Conmemorativo_Gorgas_de_Estudios_de_la_Salud
Stay safe… Stay healthy… And by all means STAY HOME!!…
Brett Mikkelson, CII, CPE
Director, B.M. Investigations, Inc. | M1 Consultants Inc
Mobile (+507) 6674-1183
brett@bminvestigations.com | www.bminvestigations.com
Proud Member of: Council of International Investigators (President 2018-2019), World Association of Detectives (International Member), Victory Services Club (London), Examinadors de Fraude Autorizados (Panama), Alianza de Seguridad Empresarial (Panama)
