April 22, 2020
I finished all of my chores yesterday thanks to the wimpy, yet ultra-effective, mini electric chainsaw. So, today I decided to just do a run-through of the basics and pay attention to the finer details of the garden. It’s amazing if you just add a touch of care to something you can attract so much positive energy in return. Prior to the lockdown, we had someone who would come by and take care of the lawn and plants. He kept it all alive, but in the last few years I hadn´t seen our backyard thriving. Since I’ve gotten my hands into the works, everything is greener, growing and we’ve attracted any number of species of birds. Once the Hummingbirds see me, they come around to sit while I attend to the chores. I know they think I´m going to put out fresh food for them, so I oblige. A few weeks ago, I noticed a bird’s nest just above one of the hummingbird feeders. The mother would come around and nest, but I left her alone. Today, however, I saw her babies. Actually, I thought the babies saw me first. One of them had its head draped over the side. It looked hungover and exhausted, something I recognized easily from my experience with the Army. But alas, their eyes are still closed, with mouths instinctively opened awaiting the return of mom and her bounty. I snapped a few photos and stepped to the side. In a moment, mom returned and gave me “that look”. I know that look too. No, not from the Army, I know it from my wife when I bring home the wrong cheese from the supermarket. It’s that “Really, you brought the wrong Feta again?” sort of look… or the vibe I got from mommabird “Really, you’re taking photos of my children without my consent?”
The cashew tree is producing more fruit this year than I’ve seen in 5 years now. The flowers, plants and fauna all seem grateful.
But, beyond the confines of my personal thriving paradise, there was unrest. Two weeks ago, my friend Danny asked me when I thought the riots would start. There was still money circulating at the time and thanks to swift police action, other attempts at theft and vandalism was squashed or resolved quickly. One way or another, the response calmed the masses although temporarily. I told him “sometime after April 20th”. Why did I pick April 20th? Many had their contracts suspended last month and would only receive a final salary on March 30th. A few others would still get a salary on the following payday, April 15. Panama also has a “decimotercer mes” which is typically abbreviated to “el decimo”. This is a “13th month payment” added to their normal salary. Every 4 months, April, August and December, everyone on a formal payroll gets an additional 1/3 of their normal salary paid to them in each of these months. The first “decimo” payment of the year is April 15th. Simplified, if the salary was $750 per month, the decimo would be $250 (not exactly, but this is the concept). April 15th represents the last payment that hundreds of thousands of people in Panama will be receiving. The following weekend, most Panamanians will spend all of what´s left of their salary and decimo. April 20th is the Monday after going completely broke. Monday started with a few protests. Tuesday, yesterday, the protests grew and some people in La Mitra de La Chorrera were actually stopping traffic on the Interamerican Highway, asking for money. Today, in what appeared to be a coordinated intentional effort, hundreds and possibly thousands of people all around Panama were blocking traffic, burning tires, asking for money and protesting the lack of response from the government on food and money handouts. Panama, Colon and the Interior; there were people protesting everywhere today including, but not limited to, La Pesa, La Mitra, San Cristobal, Espiga, Altos de Campana, David, San Miguelito and probably several other places not yet mentioned on the news or in social media. The protests started just before noon today in most places and by 5PM riot police were on scene to disperse the masses and free up traffic.
TOP NEWS and TIDBITS
BOLOTA ATTACKS COLLEAGUES IN A FIT OF RAGE. THIRD TIME IN FIVE MONTHS THAT HE’S ACTED OUT PHYSICALLY… …AND HE’S STILL NOT IN JAIL?
Yesterday we had the “Alleged Ex-Prosecutor” who was caught with 128 packages of an alleged drug of sorts, maybe, allegedly. Today, we have a Bolota. Today, is dedicated to writing a bit of truth on an individual who has shown lessinterest in doing good for his voters in Colon and more interest in acts of aggression and hatred for his fellow man. Today, Diputados (Deputies) Kayra Harding and Mariano Lopez were physically attacked by their colleague Jairo Bolota Salazar during a PRD meeting session at the National Assembly in Panama City. According to an audio message that Kayra Harding sent to the news, Jairo Bolota Salazar and Mariano Lopez who are both Diputados (Deputies) from Colon, got into an argument over the present crisis. Mr Bolota struck out at Mr Lopez and after a quick fisticuffs match, Lopez left the area bleeding from his head. Kayra Harding who has initiated campaigns against the abuse of women, approached Bolota and told him to stop. He insulted her, told her to “shut up” and when she wouldn’t back down, Mr Bolota threw a water bottle hitting Mrs Harding in the mouth.
Mrs Kayra Harding has told news reporters that she is DEFINITELY pressing charges against Bolota.
I have no eloquent words for Bolota. I have no respect for him either. If this were an isolated incident, I wouldn’t even write about it. But this miscreant has a track record of aggression and disrespect towards others and deserves no respect, no second chances, from anyone.
In mid-march, 2020, just a month ago, Bolota was stopped by police as he was speeding through a neighborhood in a 4×4 with no license plate. Bolota stepped down from his vehicle and was filmed by witnesses as he taunted the police officer telling him to take off his uniform and fight like a man. “I’m a boxer, I fight like a crazy man! Film me!”. He shouted at the police telling them that he deserved respect and then reentered his vehicle speeding away, but not before one of the police officers on scene told him not to drive away or he would be fined as well for leaving the scene. This incident caught the eye of his colleagues who considered criminal and administrative action against Bolota.
But would you believe that this wasn’t even the first offense from this bozo? The first incident was even worse. In November 2019 the police responded to a disturbance in the sector of Los Lagos Colón reported by neighbors. The police were then assaulted with bottles by the party goers and then low and behold, Bolota arrived on scene. Did he attempt to assist the police and put an end to the aggression? Nope. Bolota actually arrived to defend the attackers. Then he went to the police station and demanded they release the aggressor, continually threatening the police units with vulgarities and physical harm.
Just to be clear, if any of us were to pick a fight with police officers on two occasions and then on a third occasion, punch a man and throw a water bottle at a woman hitting her in the face… what would happen to us? Now let’s see what Panama does to him.
This is Bolota, aggressor of women, abuser of authority, man who believes himself to be above the law…:
PANAMA’S PRESIDENT RECEIVED THE FIRST ROUGH DRAFT TOWARDS REOPENING PANAMA
The Panamanian president, Laurentino Cortizo reported that he has already received the first draft from the economic and health team for a gradual reopening and return to normalcy once the quarantine decreed to stop the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 in the country is lifted.
“The decisions based on scientific evidence and the quarantine are giving results,” Cortizo wrote through the social network Twitter.
Rosario Turner, Minister of Health, explained that this is a document with what could be a proposal for a strategic plan for the normalization of the country.
“It will require many things, yes. It will require that we change the culture of each of the Panamanians in health issues, the competencies of companies from the point of view of occupational health, having a greater rapid response team, more amount of supplies needed as reagents to monitor patients, those are processes that we must carry out,” said Turner.
She assured that the standardization process in the country will be carried out progressively and safely.
“We’re not going to let happen what happened in other countries that have abruptly made the decision (to reopen) without a planning process to resolve the number of spikes or increases in case behavior,” she added.
The health team reported that based on health actions, a decrease in the speed of the number of virus infections from 1 to 1 has been detected in some areas of the country, that is, each person who has the virus is only infecting one other. However, they clarified that we will have to wait at least 10 days for this behavior to continue or decrease, before recommending the gradual removal of the quarantine.
Brett’s comments: This simply means that prior to May 1, everything will be status quo. The good news is that they are interested in reopening but intend on doing so safely and gradually. This is smart and seeing as we have already spent several days, some as many as 35-40 days in quarantine, I think we can all hold out another 10 days to see what direction this takes.
FIRST PEAK OF COVID-19 CASES IN PANAMA WAS LESS THAN EXPECTED, BUT THERE WILL BE OTHER INTERMITTENT PEAKS
The member of the advisory commission for COVID-19 explained that the maximum number of positive cases occurred in the fifth week (between April 5 and 11), and also explained that the reduction of the reproductive number (Rt) to 1 was achieved in less than four weeks quarantine.
On the first day of that week, 187 new cases were reported (total 1,988) and on the last day 260 new positives, for a general figure of 3,234.
Llorens, meanwhile, warned that after this first spike, others are expected soon.
“It is important to mention that we will have intermittent peaks from now on and it will be possible to reverse some restrictions cyclically if health capacity sees its threshold to meet demand be jeopardized. Fortunately, the next opening of the modular hospital increases that threshold. We are exceeding the first challenge, but let’s not let our guard down, because the threat persists until there is no therapy or vaccine, “added the doctor.
The Rt (0.95) and the doubling time (16 days) are within the goal, but to consider whether the quarantine is relaxed, these values are required to be maintained.
“We must maintain these indices for 10-14 days on a sustained basis to consider the relaxation of the quarantine and gradual, staggered and planned opening (generalized or focused) of the economic and social activity of the country,” said Llorens.
As for the positive scenarios, Llorens highlighted that three events could alter the future outlook for good.
- High seroprevalence of mild / asymptomatic infection.
- Discovery of potent therapy.
- Advent of an effective vaccine.
Brett’s comments: For all of you who don’t know what this is, seroprevalence is the number of persons in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on serology (blood serum) specimens; often presented as a percent of the total specimens tested or as a proportion per 100,000 persons tested. I’ll admit that I didn’t know what “seroprevalence” meant before the CoronaVirus hit us. It was just one of those words normal people didn’t need to know. What Llorens tells us here is that we are the front end of flattening the curve, YAY TEAM! But, before we declare victory, we need to monitor it for another 10-14 days until we can start to gradually reopen. The good news is that it looks like the different advisors to the government are in tune with each other, (except for MEDUCA probably. They´re still out there somewhere talking about meeting in another 2 weeks while the rest of the government is considering reopening). Once again, we just need to be patient and wait another 10… or 14 days to see what the government is going to do.
TRUMP PLANS ON REOPENING NATIONAL PARKS – DETAILS TO COME
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Trump administration’s plans to reopen the country’s national parks and other public lands in line with coronavirus guidelines, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, with more details to be announced on specific parks in coming days.
“We will begin to open our national parks and public lands for the American people to enjoy,” Trump announced at an Earth Day event at the White House, but gave no other information.
Representatives for the White House referred questions to the Department of Interior, which oversees public lands, including federal parks.
“More details will be provided in the coming days on plans for the reopening of specific parks following guidance from OMB (Office of Management and Budget) and the President’s plan for Opening Up America Again,” representatives for the department said in a statement.
Trump’s comment comes as some U.S. states move forward with plans to restart economic activity as soon as this week despite concern from public health officials and others about the potential for a spike in coronavirus cases.
The Trump administration had initially said national parks would remain open for people amid stay-at-home orders, but some closures still occurred as entrances and other areas led to crowded conditions that ran counter to distancing guidelines aimed at controlling spread of the disease.
Various states and local governments have differed in whether to allow the public to use local parks amid the outbreak, with some shutting them down while others have allowed use in open areas but have closed facilities.
The Interior Department on Wednesday pointed to an effort in Arizona this week to allow some limited use at a lake for local boaters.
FINAL REMINDER EXPATS!! – DEFINITELY STAY HOME ON APRIL 23!!!
Tomorrow, if you’re caught on the road with an expired Salvoconducto, or you haven’t been able to process your validation online with MICI, you’re going to be detained and probably sent to the nearest “Juez de Paz”. So far, what we’ve seen in the implementation of these retentions or detentions, is that you will be directed to the Juez de Paz, have to wait anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours until your case is heard and you will be fined in accordance to the law. I have only seen fines of $100 or $150 so far, but that’s not to say you won’t be fined more. The fines are between $100 and $500 for a first offence.
Yesterday there was a case where a family was trying to get back home from the interior to Panama City. They set out in the driver’s allotted time, but were stopped anyways because the woman and the child in the car were not allowed out at that particular time. They had to wait more than two hours and were fined. They did get to continue on to Panama City, but not before ironically getting exposed unnecessarily. I don’t agree with this scenario and think the police should have left them to continue along. They left a sanitized location, were in the vehicle together and were not mixing with the population. They were going home to another sanitized location. Exposing them just to give them a fine, was not the smart choice.
Definitely stay home tomorrow. Do not leave out even if you’re a male and go out in accordance to the last number of your ID number. With all of the other problems going on, protests, riot police, threats on the interamerican highway and Bolota still on the loose, it’s best to just stay home.
STATUS UPDATE:
COVID-19 DEATH TOLL RISES TO 144 IN PANAMA, THERE ARE 4,992 TOTAL CASES
- 4992 positive cases
- 171 new cases
- 144 deaths
- 4,237 home isolation (980 hospital hotels)
- 356 are hospitalized 259 in ward / 97 intensive care)
- 255 recovered by laboratory
- 2,227 clinically recovered
22,702 tests have been carried out to diagnose COVID-19, of which 17,342 have been negative.
Regarding the number of cases by age group, in patients between 20 to 39 years there are 2,064 cases; in patients between 40 to 59 years 1,864 cases; from 60 to 79 years 659 cases and in those over 80 there are 118 cases.
While the number of deaths by age, in children under 20 there are 2; in patients between 20 to 39 years there are 5; from 40 to 59 years there are 26; from 60 to 79 there are 72 and in those over 80 there are 39 who have died.
Health Minister Rosario Turner reiterated again tonight that the quarantine will be lifted progressively, by sector, this in reference to the first draft that was delivered to President Laurentino Cortizo for a gradual reopening of the country.
“No one intends to lift the quarantine overnight. No company that is not certified for the new COVID scenario cannot begin work,” said Turner.
ENDNOTES
Two of my readers and new friends Cathy and Larry reached out and told me that out of everything they’ve had to give up with the quarantine, what they truly miss the most are the live music performances in the area of Boquete. They’ve been in Panama for a while and absolutely love the country and its people.
Through their many adventures, they’ve met some of the community’s most wonderful performers. They were gracious enough to send me a few links to this wonderful woman’s recordings on youtube. I grew up on 80s rock, but over the time have grown fond of everything music has to offer and this woman’s ukulele performance is so much fun, I had to research her more.
Check out Adhi’z and her newest song Libertad. If you like it as I did, remember to show your appreciation and give her a thumbs up on her youtube account:
Stay safe… Stay healthy… And by all means STAY HOME!!…
