The COVID-19 pandemic in Panama is part of the worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease () caused by

severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...

(). The virus was confirmed to have spread to

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

on 9 March 2020. One of the dead was a 64-year-old male, who also had

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

. Of those infected, 83 were hospitalized. The infected individuals belonged to the 29-59 age group and had each recently travelled abroad. A 13-year-old girl died of COVID-19 on 23 March 2020. The government declared a state of emergency on 13 March 2020. The move freed US$50 million for a period of 180 days to purchase goods and services to combat COVID-19. A gender-based quarantine system was established, where only women were allowed to leave their homes on some days and only men were allowed out on other days. The quarantine system allowed police to easily tell whether someone was violating their quarantine. However, the plan led to harassment of

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

and

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

people.

Background

On 12 January 2020, the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

(WHO) confirmed that a

novel coronavirus Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a provisional name given to coronaviruses of medical significance before a permanent name is decided upon. Although coronaviruses are endemic in humans and infections normally mild, such as the common cold (caused by ...

was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019. The

case fatality ratio In epidemiology, case fatality rate (CFR) – or sometimes more accurately case-fatality risk – is the proportion of people diagnosed with a certain disease, who end up dying of it. Unlike a disease's mortality rate, the CFR does not take int ...

for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003, but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll. On 16 December 2020, Panama approved the

Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine The Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine ( INN: tozinameran), sold under the brand name Comirnaty, is an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by the German biotechnology company BioNTech. For its development, BioNTech collaborated with Amer ...

, which is scheduled for administration in the first trimester of 2021.

Timeline

Statistics

Charts

Daily New Confirmed Cases

Daily New Deaths

Vaccination

The vaccination plan against COVID-19 in Panama consists of four phases: (1) includes health workers frontline workers, adults over 60 years of age, people over 16 years of age with a disability, (2) people over 60 years of age and the population between 16 and 59 years old with chronic diseases, teachers and administrators from schools and universities, kindergarten staff, (3) population of the regions and areas of difficult access, drivers of public transport and cargo and airport, customs and immigration personnel, (4) people aged 16 to 59 years without chronic diseases. Panama has been one of the leading countries concerning the vaccination against COVID-19. By the end of May 2021, Panama has administered 21,90 doses per 100 people, that is 959,588 doses total. Indeed, Panama has contracted 11.1 million vaccine doses which covers 128,5% of the population. Panama has purchased seven million doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine, three million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine and 1.1 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine of which 110,000 doses have reached the country through the COVAX mechanism, a global initiative that aims at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. In spite of intact diplomatic ties with China, Panama has turned down deals to contract Chinese vaccines while other Latin American countries rely on deals and donations of the Chinese immunizer.

References

External links

Casos de coronavirus en Panamá
Updated infographic on the number, location, severity, and demographic distribution of cases in Panama
US Embassy in Panama: COVID-19 Information
Includes summary in English of measures the Panamanian government has taken to slow the spread of the virus {{COVID-19 pandemic

Coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

Disease outbreaks in Panama