Colombia Extends COVID-19 Restrictions

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), daily new COVID-19 cases and deaths in Colombia have been on the rise since March 2021, leading Colombian officials to fear a possible third wave (Wikimedia Commons)

Colombian President Iván Duque announced on April 4 that COVID-19 restrictions will be extended until April 19 in various cities. This announcement comes as Johns Hopkins University reports that Colombia has totaled 2.4 million cases and roughly 64,000 deaths. These restrictions follow government efforts over Easter to curb the virus’s spread by imposing curfews and advising citizens to be cautious. 

Duque’s announcement included city-by-city curfews based on ICU occupancy rates. The curfews begin at different times, though all end at 5 am local time. Colombian cities with ICU occupancy rates exceeding 85 percent have 11-hour curfews, beginning at 6 pm while those with ICU occupancy rates between 80 percent and 85 percent have curfews beginning at 8 pm. Curfews in cities with occupancy rates between 70 percent and 79 percent begin at 10 pm, and curfews in those with occupancy rates between 50 percent and 69 percent begin at midnight.

All cities with ICU occupancy rates greater than 50 percent must also adopt “Pico y cédula.” This measure restricts entrance to commercial establishments, such as grocery stores, based on the last digit of one’s identity card. Duque also announced that Colombians who traveled to high-risk areas over the holiday would have to isolate for at least seven days upon returning. 

As of Saturday evening, the ICU occupancy rate in Bogotá, the largest city and capital of Colombia, stood at 65.5 percent. Coastal cities have tended to have higher ICU occupancy rates. ICUs in Barranquilla, for instance, reportedly have 90 percent occupancy. 

Much of Latin America has struggled to acquire COVID-19 vaccines. In a March 31 news briefing, the head of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne, explained that “a large part of this is due to delays in production as manufacturers rush to scale up capacity. But we are also seeing far too many examples of vaccine nationalism, which limits global availability even further.” 

Colombia has fared better than most other Latin American countries in terms of inoculating its population. Colombia began its vaccination program in February and has administered approximately 2.4 million doses. Colombia became the first Latin American country to receive doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on March 1 through the United Nation’s COVAX program and will now incorporate the 117,000 doses into its program.