Health authorities of Panama and the Department of Communication of the Tocumen Airport confirmed the arrival of the first passenger with COVID-19 to this air terminal after the reactivation of international aviation.
As indicated, later, a statement from the Ministry of Health (
Minsa), the passenger, who arrived in the country this Monday, October 12, is a resident citizen and did not bring proof of
COVID-19, so the test was carried out, in one of the three swab centers arranged at the airport to detect the
coronavirus, in which it tested positive.
The airport managers in conjunction with the
Minsa transferred the passenger to a hospital hotel and the protocol established by Executive Decree No. 1089 was applied. So far there are no complications.
This Decree establishes that the following measures will be applied to the traveler according to the result of the test:
- If your rapid test result is negative, you are exempt from mandatory isolation.
- If the swab / PCR or antigen test is positive, the person will go to mandatory isolation in a hospital hotel designated by the Ministry of Health. Seven days later, you will have an antigen test.
- If the result is positive, you must complete the fourteen-day isolation and if the result is negative, your isolation ends.
The rest of the travelers were contacted and will be kept under observation, in home isolation, and will be monitored by a
Minsa traceability group.
Since October 12 at the Tocumen Airport, 700 tests have been applied to passengers who have arrived in the country without this document. These tests have a cost of $50.00 for nationals, residents and foreigners who began to arrive in the country from Monday this week.