Panama is quarantining women and men on different days during its coronavirus lockdown
- Officials in Panama have ratcheted up social-distancing measures, saying women and men must undergo quarantines on different days.
- Women can leave their homes to get necessities on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Men can go outside for the same on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Everyone must remain at home on Sundays.
- "The great quantity of people circulating outside their homes, despite the obligatory national quarantine, has led the national government to take more severe measures," President Laurentino Cortizo said in a statement.
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As of Wednesday, women and men in Panama are under different quarantine schedules.
Women are allowed to leave their homes for necessities on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Men can leave their homes for the same on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
"On Sundays, everyone will have to stay at home," President Laurentino Cortizo announced.
The restrictions, which are in effect for at least 15 days, come on top of a nationwide lockdown that went into effect March 25. Panama currently has 1,317 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, and 32 deaths from it.
The move could make it easier for Panamanian officials to ensure social distancing, Cortizo said on social media. The first quarantine measure required all Panamanians to remain in their homes except to get food or in case of an emergency, but apparently the rule was not enough. More than 2,000 people were arrested last week for breaking the rules, according to Agence France-Presse.
"The great quantity of people circulating outside their homes, despite the obligatory national quarantine, has led the national government to take more severe measures," Cortizo announced.
The country has already taken some of the harshest measures to ensure social distancing in the region, according to CNN. It's banned all domestic and international travel. And since March 22, it has even prevented Panamanian citizens from leaving the country.
Panama also has had a curfew, preventing residents from leaving their homes between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. With the new rule, it will begin even earlier, at 5 p.m.
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