Coronavirus lock-down sees 300 ravers stranded at Tribal Gathering Festival in Panama

Like most nations across the globe, Panama – which has 69 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and one death- has gone into lockdown, imposing travel restrictions that prohibit anyone from entering or leaving the country which has since left 300 people stranded on a beach after a two-week festival.

The organisers of Tribal Gathering festival, which took place from 29th February to the 15th March, have confirmed that a number of festival-goers from all over the world will have to remain on-site for an extended period of time since the national lockdown was imposed.

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Although no official cases of coronavirus have been reported or suspected amongst the ravers, Panama’s Minister of Health ordered that only those who have entered Panama over 14 days ago may return home by Sunday. Those who can not make it out by Sunday will have to remain in Panama and those that have entered Panama within the last 14days will also have to remain in the country.

Read the full statement by the festival below and read more in on COVID-19 right here.

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TO ALL ATTENDEES AND FOLLOWERS OF TRIBAL GATHERING: Update!!!!⭐️⭐️⭐️ The government and health officials have now decided to go back to the original mandate of allowing all nationals who have entered Panama over 14 days ago to exit the location. Those who have not must remain here in quarantine on site until they reach the 14 day period which could mean people actually staying here longer than the 23rd. In the wake of the President of Panama declaring a national emergency due to COVID-19/novel coronavirus, Panama’s Minister of Health has taken the extraordinary step of ordering all Tribal Gathering guests currently on site to remain in place until March 23. However, this was NOT in response to a positive COVID-19 test. There have been ZERO cases of COVID-19 confirmed on site, nor are any suspected at this time. Nevertheless, we are complying with all orders and recommendations of the Minister of Health, as the health and safety of our guests and crew remains our top priority. We also continue to work with the embassies of our guests from outside Panama to secure their assistance and support. Please contact the embassy of your family member’s home country for further information. @usembpan @who @bbcnews @vice @viceenespanol @un_ocha @who send help! @cnn @cnnee @nytimes @forbes @nationalpost @navara.media @cbsnews

A post shared by Tribal Gathering (@tribalgatheringpanama) on Mar 16, 2020 at 5:32pm PDT