UPDATED June 14th.
The most common questions we get every day are:
→ When Can We Fly to Panama?
→ When Will You Start Doing Tours Again?
Unfortunately, we don’t know the answer to either question yet. The borders to Panama are still closed. The airport was scheduled to open June 22 but on June 13th President Cortizo said the airport cannot open yet because there are too many new cases every day in Panama. He wants to see the number of new cases to go below 100 a day before the airport can open.
Until June 1st we are under a strict quarantine in Panama. Women could only go out for two hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Men could only go out for two hours on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. But as of June 1st, we are allowed to go out anytime between 5am and 7pm any day. There is a curfew between 7pm and 5am. We are still not allowed to travel between provinces.
The Panamanian government has started a 6-stage plan to reopen of the economy which you can see below but it does not have specific dates. Some other airlines have started selling ticket to Panama (PTY) in late June but it is doubtful that the airport will be open then. Unfortunately after opening up Block 2, Panama say a huge spike in new Covid-19 cases in Panama City and Panama West (Coronado area) so they put those areas under a strict quarantine again.
When the airport does open, the Panamanian government has not announced what the rules will be for foreigners coming in to Panama. Initially they may only allow Panamanian citizens and those who already have a residency Visa to come to Panama. Or they might let anyone in to Panama. They could ban flights from certain countries from flying in to Panama like they did when the pandemic first began.
The Panamanian government has not announced what the rules will be for tour operators. We anticipate that we will need to have fewer people on our big bus and even if Panama does not require it we will create our own social distancing rules. Even before the Coronavirus we disinfected the bus 3-4 times a day and will continue that practice. We also provide hand sanitizer for everyone. Your safety is our #1 concern.
Panama might require a 14 day quarantine or they might not if you show no signs of having a fever or being sick.
THERE ARE A LOT OF UNKNOWNS!
The bottom line is that we simply don’t know when you can fly to Panama or when we will be able to start doing tours again. We sincerely hope that we can start doing Panama Relocation Tours again in July.
Everyone in Panama is anxious for the economy, including tourism, to open up again soon. No one is more anxious for the economy to open up and tours to start again than everyone at Panama Relocation Tours! We miss doing tours, meeting people from all over the world and showing you how amazing life is in Panama. Right now, we have 50 Panama Relocation Tours Alumni ready to come to Panama to get a Visa as soon as the borders up. Currently Immigration is still closed and most hotels are closed too.
As soon as we have more details in an official notice from the Panamanian government we will send out an email to let everyone know when you can fly to Panama and when we can start doing Panama Relocation Tours again.
UPDATE May 21st: MINSA, Panama’s health department announced today that the plan is to release each block below in two week increments. This would mean that Panama will be completely out of quarantine by the end of July. But it still does not answer the questions about whey you can fly to Panama, what the rules will be when you arrive and when we can start doing Panama Relocation Tours again.
