Panama's first case of coronavirus was reported on March 10th. A 40 yr old female arrived in Panama the previous day from Barrajas, Spain with fever and a cough. She presented to a local health facility and was diagnosed with the virus. She apparently had a mild case and was released to home quarantine under medical supervision. Family members and all contacts were handled according to health department protocols. There were 10 direct contacts of this individual, both on the airplane and in her home. The contacts of these contacts brought the total number of potential cases to 64. All remain under medical monitoring at the current time.
On March 11th, the number of confirmed cases had increased to 8 and the first death attributed to the virus was reported. The deceased was a 65 yr old school principal with no history of foreign travel, but had been in contact with someone who had traveled. He also had co-existing conditions of diabetes and bacterial pneumonia. The other cases all had travel histories to either Europe or the US. At this time authorities made the decision to suspend until April 7th all crowd-gathering activities, such as fairs, concerts, rodeos, and sports events. Some schools in districts of Panama City were also closed down. Affected were Panama centro, Panama norte, and San Miguelito areas.
As of today, March 13th, the number of confirmed cases has risen to 36. Travel to Europe has been banned. Panama's president has declared a state of emergency. The president explained this emergency declaration was done to bypass bureaucratic red tape, bidding, and approval procedures should it be necessary to quickly obtain medical equipment and/or implement other costly interventions.
The President has also outlined a strategy for dealing with this crisis which involves the appointment of four specific work teams that have specific functions in addressing international, social, economic, and commercial issues related to the virus outbreak.
To date, there are no reported cases in the Boquete area, nor in Chiriqui province. The 36 confirmed cases involve 33 Panamanian natives and 3 foreigners---2 Germans and a Venezuelan. All of the cases are located in the Panama City area. To date, a total of 756 people have been tested. 94 tests are pending, and 36 have resulted positive. The death toll remains at only 1. There is one individual in serious condition in intensive care.
The transparency and proactive behavior of Panama's governmental response to this pandemic gives me a degree of comfort and assurance regarding my own situation that I don't have regarding the situation with friends and loved ones living in the US.
