President, Laurentino Cortizo, announced Friday during his presentation of the report to the nation, before the plenary session of the National Assembly that from July 11, the mandatory use of the mask in closed spaces will be eliminated, with the exception of health facilities and public transport.

In Panama, the mandatory use of the mask in open spaces or outdoors has been eliminated since March 28 a decision that was made after a decrease in covid-19 infections.

At the time, the Ministry of Health (Minsa) stated that the measure applied as long as a physical distance of at least one meter was maintained, in open spaces. However, on June 26, the infectious disease pediatrician Xavier Sáez Llorens said that the use of the mask should be "left to personal discretion", since "removing mandatory does not mean withdrawing the recommendation to wear a mask".

The president also highlighted the successful vaccination strategy that guaranteed the vaccine to all Panamanians, which is a determining factor for economic recovery.

"Panama has international recognition as one of the countries with the best and most effective mass vaccination systems per capita in the world," he said.

UN recognition
He reminded the Assembly that Panama had the honor of receiving, on June 2, the United Nations Public Service Award in the category of Institutional Resilience and Innovative Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic. He said that to date, Panama has received a total of 10,343, 850 doses and more than 8,390,000 doses have been applied.