Twelve months after Central America began a health and economic crisis triggered by the covid-19 outbreak, Guatemala was the fastest recovering economy and Panamanian economic activity is the slowest to return to pre-pandemic levels.
In March 2020, the first cases of covid-19 began to be detected in the countries of the region. The highly contagious disease, which at that time had already claimed the lives of thousands of people around the world, forced Central American governments to establish mobility restrictions.
Given the economic crisis generated by the covid-19 outbreak, nine out of ten companies operating locally reduced their revenues and one out of three made temporary closures.
Between May and August 2020, a COVID-19 section was included in the Directory of Businesses and Establishments (DEE) as part of the update, in order for businesses to indicate what the main effects of the pandemic were.
After reports of flying locusts entering Guatemala from the border area with the Yucatan, Mexico, Salvadoran authorities have declared themselves on alert because of the threat they could represent to local crops.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG) is prepared to face the threat of a flying locust (Schistocerca piceifrons piceifrons) that could cause damage or loss to crops in our territory, details an official statement dated January 12, 2021.
After restrictions were imposed on people's mobility during the holiday season to stop the spread of covid-19, Panamanian authorities reported that as of January 14 there will be a return to the process of "gradual and asymmetric reopening.
In a press conference, the Minister of Health, Luis Francisco Sucre, informed that due to the fact that a balance was achieved in the incidence of covid-19 cases, it was decided to lift the quarantine that had been in place since the beginning of the year and as of January 14 the curfew for the entire country will be from 9:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m. the following day.
In order to control the spread of covid-19, from December 18 to January 4 there will be a national curfew and dry law, from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. the following day.
A total quarantine will also be established from Friday, December 25 at 7pm until Monday, December 28 at 5am and from Friday, January 1 at 7pm until Monday, January 4 at 5am.
Scheduling medical checkups for the staff, preparing the housing modules to maintain social distance and adapting the logistics of transporting people are challenges that the sugar mills will face during the 2020-2021 harvest.
The sugar cane harvest that is about to begin represents a source of employment for thousands of people in the region and in this context of the propagation of covid-19, the companies will have to face multiple challenges to get the harvest going.
Companies in El Salvador that do not comply with the biosecurity measures stipulated in the protocols for reopening the economy may be sanctioned with the temporary closure of their operations.
In the process of reactivating economic activities that were suspended due to the spread of covid-19, the Salvadoran authorities have established protocols for the proper functioning of companies.
Since the pest represents a threat and is capable of destroying crops in a very short time, moving large distances in one day, a state of phytosanitary emergency was declared in the country due to a significant increase in the number of flying locusts.
In the context of the economic crisis, it is estimated that companies in Central America have reduced the working hours of employees to an average of 32 hours per week.
As a result of the spread of covid-19 in the countries of the region and the imposition of strict home quarantines, demand for products and services has fallen considerably in most markets.
The Constitutional Court provisionally suspended the agreement that allowed companies that currently do not have the economic capacity to comply with the payment of the Annual Bonus, to reconcile the amortization of the obligation with the employees.
The agreement of the Ministry of Labor (Mintrab) 250-2020, which was published in the Diario de Centroamérica on July 10, stipulates that in order to postpone the payment of the Bono 14, employers who are not in a position to do so due to the economic crisis resulting from the outbreak of covid-19, could make an application to the Ministry.
At the height of the pandemic and economic crisis, the Costa Rican president announced, on a national chain, an economic recovery plan with no clear direction, no assigned leaders and no concrete actions.
In the message broadcast on the night of July 12, President Carlos Alvarado vaguely explained part of the plan to be adopted to overcome the health and economic crisis generated by the spread of covid-19.
In order to reactivate economic activity in Panama, the authorities of the Ministry of Health published in the Official Journal the guidelines of strict compliance for companies and workers.
Using technology to measure the flow of visitors, reducing the furniture available in the food courts and implementing product deliveries in the parking area are part of the changes that the region's shopping centers must apply in this new reality.
Because of the threat of the spread of covid-19, since mid-March in Central America, the authorities agreed to close the shopping centers.
After almost 100 days of restrictions on the mobility of people and the closure of some productive activities, the Guatemalan private sector is asking the authorities to start evaluating the gradual opening of businesses under strict protocols.
Due to the outbreak of covid-19, the authorities decreed the closure of several economic activities since mid-March, and up to date restrictions to the operation of some sectors are still in place.
It is estimated that in the context of the spread of covid-19 in the country, eight out of ten companies in the industrial sector have reduced their sales and six out of ten have seen their distribution capacity affected.
The Chamber of Industry of Guatemala (CIG) conducted a survey to calculate the impact of the current health crisis on the operations of the country's industrial companies.
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