The National Government authorized through Resolution No. 902 of September 24, 2020, that starting this Monday there will be the reactivation of stores, shopping centers, restaurants, inns and the Hipódromo Presidente Remón, and in response to this, President Laurentino Cortizo asked the population for collaboration in complying with biosecurity measures to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
We have not won anything and we cannot lower our guard; Difficult times are coming and I need your help, Cortizo stressed in his recent speech.
The president recalled that the best allies to stop the spread of the virus are the use of a mask, alcohol gel, hand washing and physical distancing that, although it is very difficult, we all have to maintain.
This pandemic is fierce, it is taking around a million people in the world and more than two thousand in Panama and, in effect, the figures are decreasing and the RT improves by less than 1% and the percentage of positive tests has gone down to 12% last Thursday, but we must continue to lower it, he said, while referring to the new reopening that begins tomorrow.
The president specified that he has received pressure for the reopening that other countries have implemented for a month and a half, saying that they can pressure me all they want, because we have a plan and we are going to comply with it. Many of those countries are closing again, partially or totally, and we don't want to do that.
Before the reopening, the Government emphasizes that it has already set aside the resources to buy a
vaccine against
COVID-19.
The second article of this Ministerial Resolution indicates that the activities contemplated in this provision will operate from Monday to Saturday, except in those places where the curfew established by the Ministry of Health (
Minsa) is still in force. The shopping centers will open from 10:00 a.m. It also highlights the importance of companies abiding and complying with the post-
COVID-19 guidelines for the return to normalcy in Panama.
Finally, the Government reminds the companies of the agreements of the Tripartite Dialogue Table for the Economy and Labor Development in matters of gradual return to health and employment, issued by the Ministry of Labor and Labor Development. And it is required that workers who return to their jobs on Monday, be provided with alcoholic gel and masks, among other biosafety items, according to the protocols and standards indicated by the health authority.