PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Panama’s government said on Tuesday it would widen a curfew to slow the spread of the coronavirus and require people to be in quarantine at all hours beginning on Wednesday, as the number of cases again jumped and two more people died.
Panama’s health minister said the Central American country registered 443 cases of the virus, up from 345 the day before, and there were a total of eight deaths.
President Laurentino Cortizo did not specify how long the curfew would be in place, but added there would be “logical exceptions,” including for health workers and certain businesses such as banks and supermarkets.
In Guatemala, lawmakers voted on Tuesday to extend the state of emergency due to the coronavirus for another 30 days. The country now has 21 confirmed cases of the infection, the government said.
(Reporting by Elida Moreno in Panama City and Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Leslie Adler)
