MINSA: Press Release #66
Saturday and Sunday of absolute quarantine
The Ministry of Health (MINSA) reports that this weekend, May 2 and 3, will be of absolute quarantine, as has been implemented in the last month. For this reason, tomorrow, May 1, women can use their allocated hours for their activities.
During the press conference, the Vice Minister of the Presidency, Carlos García, reported some ill-intentioned comments regarding the payment of salaries to medical personnel, who have been the heroes and heroines in this crisis. García assured that USD $123 million has been identified in the Ministry of Economy and Finance to comply with the health personnel.
Transfer from Guna Yala
In order to provide greater vigilance and attention, today a group of 18 COVID-19 positive patients were transferred from the Guna Yala comarca, who upon arrival were immediately transferred to a hospital hotel, where they will spend their treatment under medical supervision.
In addition, this Thursday, executives of the MINSA and the new Integrated Panama Solidarity Hospital toured the facilities of this new center, enabled to care for COVID-19 patients.
This hospital has 100 beds, distributed in 80 general beds and 20 intensive care beds. In addition, it will have enough technology to handle the pandemic, it is expected to begin operations in the next few days.
Panama’s experience before the WHO
Panama was the only country in America invited by the World Health Organization (WHO) to present, with members of other countries, its experiences and knowledge in the fight against COVID-19.
For Panama, a team led by the vice minister, Luis Francisco Sucre, participated, and explained the evolution of the virus, the sanitary measures and the six rings of the Protect yourself Panama Plan. Countries such as Qatar, Turkey, Vietnam and Bhutan also presented at this virtual meeting.
CSS requests a stop to street closures
The director of the CSS, Enrique Lau Cortés, reported that there is evidence that the enzymes of a patient, after two weeks of virus recovery, manages to increase the defenses in proteins known as immunoglobulins, which is why this plasma is transfused to a patient to overcome the crisis. The Metropolitan Hospital Complex has become a pioneer in Panama in the application of this treatment.
Lau Cortés appealed to the public conscience due to street closings in several communities, CSS personnel have been unable to comply with the delivery of medications. He explained that in the case of transplant patients, the institution is directly managing deliveries because the life of these patients depends entirely on taking daily medication.
Epidemiological report
Today, Thursday, April 30, there are 576 recovered patients and 154 new cases were reported for a total of 6,532.
In home isolation there are 2,916 patients, 188 are reported dead, while 282 patients are in the wards and 86 in the intensive care units.
The University of Panama donated 5 mobile swab-picking cabinets to MINSA and 50 protective visors for infants from 0 to 2 years old, supplies that will serve to reinforce the battle against COVID-19.
All of the official information regarding the novel coronavirus in Panama and the actions that the national government has taken are communicated on MINSA social media accounts and on the web pages (www.minsa.gob.pa and https://yomeinformopma.org/). They are also available on our hotline by dialing 169 or WhatsApp number 6997-2539.
