New rules for travelers from S. America

After confirming the first case of the Brazilian variant of Covid-19 known as P.1, Panamanian authorities have defined new rules for the entry of travelers from South America.

An  Executive Decree of March 29 published in the Official Gazette, establishes that any who has stayed or transited through South America who enters the national territory by air, land or sea, using commercial or private means, must present a negative test to the virus PCR or antigen 48 hours before arrival.

The rule, which comes into force on Wednesday, March 31 at 12:00 am, also orders that in addition to the negative result presented by the traveler from, a PCR or antigen test must also be carried out at their own expense.  prior to registration in Migration.

If the result of the test applied in Panama is negative, the person must serve five days of isolation at their home or in a hospital hotel for Covid-19 travelers. On the fifth day, the respective test is applied again and if it is negative, the quarantine ends.

“If the result of the test is positive, a PCR-RT test and typing test, analysis by Icges must be performed and a quarantine of 14 days in a hospital hotel for Covid-19 travelers must be carried out, as considered by the Health Authority,” says the document.

The Brazilian variant known as P.1 is 1.4 to 2.2 times more transmissible than the original variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

On Saturday, the Health authorities confirmed the first case registered in the country of the Brazilian variant, in a 38-year-old woman living in Panama.