In Panama City’s Riba Smith supermarket the all male clientele are wandering the aisles brandishing their shopping lists.

“I’m learning a lot about the names of fruits and vegetables,” says Guillermo Rodriguez, in front of the herbs section, following a call from his mother. “We all have to do our part.”

In an effort to cut the number of people in the street Panama last week introduced alternate days in which men and women can leave the house for shopping and other essential activities.

This novel gender based social distancing is one of a number of measures that has helped the country become a relative safe haven in Latin America’s virus nightmare.

Already Panamanians are only allowed out for two hours at a time of day determined by their ID numbers and the Easter weekend will see 48 hours of total quarantine, with supermarkets closed and only essential workers allowed out of doors.

Thanks to its role as a major marine and air transit hub, the Central American country of four million has been amongst the hardest hit by the Coronavirus.

By Saturday there were 2974 confirmed cases and 75 reported deaths, the highest per capita rates in both categories in Latin America.

Panama was also the fastest country on the continent to reach one thousand infections.

With Brazil and Mexico’s leaders in denial about the severity of the pandemic, experts say Panama’s example offers hope that quick and decisive actions can flatten the curve.

Brazil has 19,943 confirmed cases and 1,074 deaths, although many fear this underplays the gravity of the situation in the poverty stricken favelas. Mexico has 3,844 cases and 233 deaths while Colombia has 2,473 cases and 80 deaths.

Data from The University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Business shows that Panama has introduced the region’s most stringent rerstrictions, though other countries in the region have since adopted the ID and sex-based policies for shopping times.

“Given Panama’s role as a regional hub, we knew we would be exposed early and we have been preparing since before the virus’ confirmed arrival in the Americas” says Oscar Ramos, the government’s communications secretary. “We have seen what worked best in Asia and we are in dialogue with neighbouring governments. The virus can only be defeated with solidarity and unity.”

An aggressive testing campaign has reached 12,583 individuals – the second highest per capita in the region after Chile – and the mortality rate of 2.4 percent is below the regional average of 5 percent in countries with community transmission, according to Pan American Health Organization officials.

Food aid packages have reached remote indigenous communities, online virtual medical consultations have been set up to avoid overstretching the health sector and a helpline for domestic abuse complaints set up.

In Panama City’s Humanitarian Hub – unique in the region – humanitarian flights continue to arrive and international NGOs plan the delivery of medical and humanitarian aid to the surrounding region.

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