Panama bans UK travelers

The Ministry of Health (Minsa) published a decree on Monday, December 21, temporarily suspending the entry of people, who have stayed or passed through the United Kingdom in the last 20 days, after a new strain of the coronavirus set off alarm bells around the world.

The decree, published in the Official Gazette, indicates that the entry of people who have stayed, traveled or are from South Africa is also temporarily suspended.

Panamanians who have been in these countries and who are about to enter the country must take the PCR or antigen test “in a mandatory manner”. Regardless of the result, they must be quarantined in a hospital hotel for the time indicated by the health authorities.

The measure begins to take effect at 11:59 pm on Monday 21.

The appearance of the new strain of the coronavirus in the United Kingdom caused panic throughout the world, causing a dozen capitals to cancel flights with the country, which was isolated.

Given the emergence of the new variant, the World Health Organization urged “tightening controls” in Europe since several cases of it were detected outside the British territory at least in Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Australia, and South Africa.

A large part of the European Union and countries such as Colombia, Chile, Canada or Saudi Arabia suspended or restricted their flights from the United Kingdom. The list of countries grew as the hours passed, as did the sense of chaos and worry.