Panama allocates $1million to coronavirus “national emergency”

The Government has declared a state of national emergency due to the growing danger posed by the spread of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the country, and assigned Ministry of Health  (Minsa) one million dollars as the initial budget to face the contingency.

The money, according to a Minsa press, is to cover the expenses involved in complying with international health protocols to cushion the risk of the outbreak, as well as the acquisition, by the Minsa and the Social Security Fund, of goods, works and services necessary to fight the virus while this emergency persists.

In addition, Minsa has reinforced sanitary measures at the country’s borders, maintains the Health Emergency Operations Center and enabled an isolation room at the San Miguel Arcángel Hospital.

Lourdes Moreno, director of Epidemiology at Minsa, said that the room will be used to isolate suspicious cases.

Moreno said that in this room they will treat travelers identified through the monitoring system or screening at airports.