As part of the gradual economic reopening plan, the Minister of Health (Minsa) of Panama Luis Francisco Sucre reported this Tuesday that as of April 19, the national curfew will be from 12:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. and the opening of bars with outdoor terraces will be allowed.

The public will also be allowed to attend outdoor sports activities with a capacity of 25% and without sale of liquor, as of April 19.

During the conference of the epidemiological report of the Minsa, Sucre said that businesses that deem it will be allowed to open until 11:00 pm so that they have a greater opportunity to serve their customers.

In addition, he announced that starting next Saturday, April 17, the weekend quarantine will be lifted in the Changuinola district, Bocas del Toro province.

Sucre said that the announced measures are given after the last weeks have reported favorable rates achieved by the discipline of the vast majority of citizens and the strategies carried out by the authorities.

"The announcement of these new openings does not mean that we have won the battle against the virus, on the contrary, it implies that we must not lower our guard and continue to maintain biosecurity measures," said the health minister.

Sucre said that Panama has maintained a sustained rate in the number of cases detected, with a positivity of new cases this week of 3.9%, below the average.

“We are one of the countries in the region that also maintains the lowest active cases, which oscillate at 1.1%, while we maintain a sustained 97% of recovered and the lowest fatality in the region located at 1.7%; which translates into proper management of the pandemic up to now," he said.

For this Tuesday, April 13, in Panama there are 348,953 recovered patients, 329 new positive cases, for a cumulative total of 359,121.