COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia
The COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Colombia on 6 March 2020.[1][2] As of 17 March, Colombia is denying entry to those who are not Colombian citizens, permanent residents or diplomats.[3]
| COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia | |
|---|---|
 Confirmed cases by departments
<50 confirmed
50–99 confirmed
100–499 confirmed
500–999 confirmed
1 000–4 999 confirmed
≥5 000 confirmed | |
| Disease | COVID-19 |
| Virus strain | SARS-CoV-2 |
| Location | Colombia |
| First outbreak | Wuhan, China (globally) Milan, Italy (locally) |
| Index case | Bogotá |
| Arrival date | 6 March 2020 (5 months, 1 week and 3 days) |
| Confirmed cases | 456,689 |
| Recovered | 274,420 |
Deaths | 14,810 |
| Government website | |
| www.ins.gov.co/Coronavirus | |
Background
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019.[4][5]
The case fatality ratio for COVID-19 has been much lower than SARS of 2003,[6][7] but the transmission has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll.[8][6]
Timeline
March
On 6 March, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection confirmed Colombia's first case of coronavirus, a 19-year-old female patient who recently travelled to Milan, Italy.[9][10]
On 9 March, two more cases were confirmed.[11]
On 11 March, six more cases were confirmed, three in Medellín,[12] two in Bogotá and one in Cartagena. Later on the same day, three more cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 9.[13]
On 12 March, four more cases were confirmed, two in Bogotá and two in Neiva.[14] Authorities declared a health emergency, suspending all public events involving more than 500 people, as well as implementing measures intended to keep cruise ships from docking in any national port.[15]
On 13 March, three new cases were reported, one in Bogotá, one in Palmira and the other in Villavicencio.[16] President Iván Duque announced that as of 16 March, entry to Colombia will be restricted for visitors who have been in Europe or Asia within the past 14 days. Colombian citizens and residents who have been in Europe or Asia can be admitted into the country, but must undergo a 14-day self-quarantine as a precaution.[13]
Additionally, Duque announced Colombia would shut down all of its border crossings with Venezuela, effective as of 14 March.[17] Associated Press reported that experts are worried that the Venezuelan refugee crisis could boost the spread of the virus.[18]
On the night of 15 March, the Health Ministry announced 11 new cases, bringing the total up to 45. Of those 11, 6 were in Bogotá, 4 in Neiva and 1 in the town of Facatativá. Additionally, President Iván Duque, along with the Ministries of Health and Education, announced suspension of classes for all public and private schools and universities in the country.[19]
On the morning of 16 March, nine new cases were reported in Bogotá.[20] Later that same day, three additional cases were also reported in Bogotá,[21] bringing the total to 57. President Iván Duque declared all land and sea borders[22] be closed in conjunction with the governments of Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. Córdoba, Meta and Santander Departments issued curfews to avoid the spread of the virus.[23][24][25]
On the morning of 17 March, Colombia's Health Ministry confirmed 8 more cases.[26] Later the same day, they confirmed another 10 cases, bringing the total to 75.[27] Cartagena's mayor extended the curfew, which previously applied only to the tourist city center from 10:00 p.m. to 4:00 am, to the whole city from 6:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. during weekdays, and for 24 hours during weekends.[28] Bogotá mayor Claudia López, announced a mandatory isolation drill for the extended weekend, from 20 to 23 March.[29] The Bogotá drill allowed exceptions for the elderly and disabled and delivery personnel to move around. Pet owners were authorized to take animals outside for 20 minutes and one person per family could leave to purchase supplies.[30]
On 17 March, at 9:00 pm local time (UTC–5), President Iván Duque spoke to the Colombians and declared the state of emergency, announcing that he would take economic measures that were announced the following day. The first measure taken seeking the protection of the elderly is to decree mandatory isolation from 7:00 am on 20 March to 31 May for all adults over 70 years of age. They must remain in their residences except to stock up on food or access health or financial services. Government entities were instructed to make it easier for them to receive their pensions, medicines, healthcare or food at home.[31]
On the evening of 20 March, President Iván Duque announced a 19-day nationwide quarantine, starting on 24 March at midnight and ending on 12 April at midnight.[32]
On 21 March, the Ministry of Health confirmed the first death from coronavirus in Colombia, a 58-year-old man who worked as a taxi driver in Cartagena who died on 16 March and reportedly carried Italian tourists on his taxi on 4 March. According to authorities, the person started presenting symptoms two days later. Initially, COVID-19 had been dismissed as the cause of his death as he had tested negative for coronavirus, however, his sister had tested positive for the disease. After the patient's decease, the National Health Institute (INS) analyzed two tests from him, both of which were negative with one of those being taken improperly, but decided to keep the investigation open owing to his sister's condition. Eventually, the INS concluded that the taxi driver was her only possible source of contagion, therefore attributing his death to the new virus in spite of the laboratory evidence stating otherwise.[33]
On 22 March, the Ministry of Health confirmed the second death linked to the virus, a 70-year-old woman from Yumbo whose daughter had returned from Cuba on 2 March and reported to have had contact with two people from the United States, one of which had tested positive for coronavirus. In addition to this, 21 new cases were reported, bringing the total up to 231.[34]
On 26 March, only 21 new positive cases were confirmed, which represented a decrease from previous days when over 90 positive cases were reported. According to the INS, this decrease was due to damage to the machine that prepared the samples for processing and subsequent diagnosis of COVID-19, which affected the speed at which results were being produced.[35]
April
On 6 April, President Iván Duque announced in his daily broadcast an extension of the nationwide lockdown until 27 April to curtail further transmission of the coronavirus. During said broadcast Health Minister Fernando Ruíz revealed that infection numbers were lower than initially expected. While the country was expected to have over 5,700 cases by 4 April according to initial estimates, the actual number by that day was just over 1,400. At the same time it was announced that businesses affected by the lockdown would benefit from up to COP 12 trillion (US$2.9 billion) in credits.[36]
On 9 April, Bogotá mayor Claudia López announced gender-based quarantine measures, known as Pico y género, to reduce circulation of the population. Under this rule, women can go out for essential tasks, like grocery shopping, on even-numbered days, while men can go out on odd-numbered days.[37] The rule explicitly allows for self-designation of gender identity where it mentions the existence of transgender people; nonetheless, the rule has had a harmful impact on the transgender community.[38] Informal workers who rely on daily labor for wages have also been harmed by the quarantine.[39] In other departments and municipalities, transit-restriction measures such as Pico y cédula, which allow people to go out for essential tasks on specific days of the week according to the last digit of their ID (cédula) were implemented.[40]
On 10 April, INPEC reported the first death of a prisoner by COVID-19: a 63-year-old man who had been held in the Villavicencio prison until 1 April and died six days later at the city's local hospital. The following day, a 78-year-old inmate at the same prison died as well and another one was confirmed to have tested positive for coronavirus, who would die on 17 April. That same day, 13 inmates and seven guards were reported to be active COVID-19 cases. By 23 April, the outbreak at Villavicencio prison was reported to have extended to 109 cases.[41]
On 20 April, President Iván Duque announced a further extension of the nationwide lockdown until 11 May, but allowed the construction and manufacturing sectors to reopen starting from 27 April, under specific protocols. International and domestic commercial flights would remain suspended until the end of May, as would inter-municipal transport. On the other hand, public transport within cities was required to operate at a maximum of 35% capacity. Individual exercise was also allowed.[42]
May
On 5 May, President Iván Duque announced a further extension of the nationwide lockdown for two weeks, until 25 May at midnight. He also announced that more economic sectors would be allowed to re-open under strict protocols starting from 11 May: automobile, furniture, and clothing manufacturing industries, wholesale trade and certain retailers such as laundries, bookstores and stationeries. Children aged 6–17 would be allowed to go outside three times a week for 30 minutes, with those aged 14 and under required to be accompanied by an adult who does not belong to a high-risk group (people over 70 years old or with underlying medical conditions). In addition to that, municipalities without confirmed COVID-19 cases would also be able to start re-opening their economic sectors, in coordination with mayors, governors and the national government. Bars, dine-in restaurants, gyms, and clubs would remain closed, and massive events would remain forbidden.[43]
On 8 May, Bogotá mayor Claudia López announced new measures regarding the planned reactivation of the economy. All permitted construction works with safety protocols in place could resume by 11 May, working from 10 a.m. to 7 pm. Manufacturing companies with safety protocols in place could request permission to resume operations as early as 18 May, between 10 a.m and 5 a.m. (for this sector, which may have more than one work shift, business hours will depend on the size of the company), while wholesale traders and retailers may resume beginning 25 May, from noon to midnight. As the economic reactivation would make the pico y género measure unworkable, given that more people would need to leave their homes to go to work regardless of gender, this restriction was lifted on 11 May.[44] An "orange alert" was declared for some neighborhoods in Kennedy, the locality with the most COVID-19 cases in the city. Residents of those sectors would be subject to a strict quarantine, only able to go out for essential tasks. Street sales and outside physical activity were prohibited in the area. These zones were to be monitored by health authorities for two weeks.[45]
That same day, the National Health Institute reported 595 new confirmed cases on its daily report, raising the total of confirmed cases to 10,051. Bogotá was the region with the highest number of new cases, with 225. 21 new deaths were reported, raising the total to 228, and 2,424 people had recovered. Moreover, the institution reported that 4,387 tests were processed that day, and over 123,700 tests had been processed since the start of the outbreak in March.[46]
With Mother's Day in Colombia being celebrated on the second Sunday of May (10 May in 2020) and given that the holiday is considered a critical one by authorities due to the high consumption of alcohol, gatherings and brawls, several departments and municipalities decreed curfews and prohibition of the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages (ley seca) within their jurisdictions for the weekend between Friday night and Monday morning to prevent further spread of coronavirus as well.[47]
On 14 May the National Government, through a decree issued by the Ministry of Interior, ordered the governor of the Amazonas Department as well as the mayor of Leticia the closure of every opened economic activity in the municipality and the department except for the ones strictly necessary for health, supply and essential services and declared a lockdown for that specific zone of the country until 30 May. This decision was reached due to the fast spread of coronavirus in the Amazonas Department since the confirmation of the first positive case in the department on 17 April, with 924 confirmed cases and 90 out of every 10,000 inhabitants being diagnosed with COVID-19. According to the reports by the INS, it was the highest rate in the country, ahead of Bogotá with 5.5 infected people per 10,000 inhabitants as of that day.[48]
On 17 May, a humanitarian flight arrived in Colombia with 366 Colombian nationals. Due to travel restrictions, they had been stranded in other countries on four continents. Upon returning to Colombia, they were required to isolate for 14 days.[49]
On 19 May, President Iván Duque announced a fourth extension of the national lockdown until 31 May, as well as the extension of the national health emergency until 31 August.[50] Starting from 1 June, the country would enter a new stage in which reactivation of museums, libraries and domestic service activities would be evaluated, schools and universities were confirmed to continue under the modality of virtual education until August, when universities would be allowed to reopen under a model of alternation between classroom and virtual classes. People over 70 would have to remain isolated until 30 June.[51]
On 23 May, the INS reported a total of 20,177 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,046 new cases on its daily report, being this the first time the country reported over 1,000 infected people in 24 hours since the confirmation of the first case on 6 March.[52]
On 28 May, a further extension of the national lockdown in place since March until 1 July was announced. At the same time, more businesses such as hairdressers and barbers, as well as malls would be allowed to reopen from 1 June, at the discretion of local mayors, while allowing more freedom of movement in some parts of the country. However, local authorities of cities with high rates of infection such as Bogotá, Cali (where an "orange alert" was declared), Barranquilla and Cartagena had already announced that movement restrictions would remain in place and reopening of economic activities would be delayed for at least two more weeks.[53][54]
On 30 May, Bogotá mayor Claudia López announced a total lockdown for the Kennedy locality for two weeks starting from 1 June and extending to 14 June at midnight. The decision was reached given that the zone had over 2,000 positive cases for COVID-19, the highest number of cases in the city. All exemptions to leave the locality were rescinded, except for essential tasks. All economic sectors that had resumed activities in Kennedy were also suspended, as well as every outside physical activity.[55]
June
On 2 June Colombia reported 40 new deaths, with which the country exceeded the figure of 1,000 deaths from COVID-19, reaching a total of 1,009. Up to that day, Bogotá reported the highest number of total deaths with 258.[56] On the evening of that day, the Ministry of Education issued guidelines to regional and local education authorities as well as private schools and kindergartens stating that students would remain studying from home until 31 July, and inviting them to arrange for protocols for the gradual return of students to classrooms under a model of alternation starting from 1 August, in coordination with health authorities.[57] This announcement was not well received by parents, who expressed their concerns over the health of their children.[58] On 16 June, associations of private schools stated their intention to not return to classroom classes and finish the school year with virtual education.[59]
In its daily report for 7 June, the Health Ministry confirmed the first positive case in the Guaviare Department, with which every department of Colombia has reported at least one case of COVID-19.[60][61]
On 15 June, Bogotá mayor Claudia López declared an "orange alert" for the city's hospital system, considering that occupation of intensive care units in the city had surpassed 54%. The alert meant that, starting from 16 June, the District through its Regulatory Center for Urgencies and Emergencies (CRUE in Spanish) would officially take over administration and control of all ICU units in both public and private hospitals, and would refer COVID-19 patients requiring a unit to them according to proximity and availability criteria. López also announced the introduction of the Pico y cédula measure to control access to commercial and service establishments, such as banks, supermarkets, and notaries, as well as a two-week total lockdown for zones in the Ciudad Bolívar, Suba, Engativá, and Bosa localities.[62] In Barranquilla, an "orange alert" with similar measures for the city's hospital system was declared by mayor Jaime Pumarejo due to the steady increase of positive cases in the city, which reported 798 new cases on 15 June, over twice the amount of new cases recorded in Bogotá that day.[63]
On 16 June, it became known that a group of twenty-five personalities over the age of 70, led by former Minister of Finance Rudolf Hommes, former Minister of Interior and Vice-President Humberto de la Calle, former Minister for Employment and acting mayor of Bogotá Clara López Obregón and politician Álvaro Leyva, as well as former mayor of Cali Maurice Armitage, nicknamed the Rebelión de las canas ("Gray hair rebellion"), lodged a tutelage action against the National Government as they considered their fundamental rights were being violated by the mobility restrictions set in place for the elderly population during the pandemic. They also argued they were being discriminated by the Government by being singled out as a special group and protecting them against their own will, thus negating their autonomy to make decisions regarding their own protection.[64] In response to that, President Iván Duque stated that they were not being discriminated, and that the measures in place were aimed at taking care of them and protecting their lives.[65]
On 21 June, the Health Ministry reported 111 deaths in the last 24 hours, being the first time Colombia recorded 100 daily deaths since the start of the pandemic.[66] By that day, over half of the municipalities in the country (575 out of 1,122) had reported cases of COVID-19 compared to only 196 in April, meaning that each day six new municipalities were reporting positive cases. Five municipalities concentrated 65.2% of all positive cases: Bogotá, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Cali, and Soledad in the Atlántico Department, while that department as well as San Andrés had reported cases in all of their municipalities. On the other hand, 129 municipalities were already without active cases, those having either recovered or died. During the previous week, the pandemic had accelerated with the country reporting 10,000 cases in just four days, having taken two months to report that same amount at the start of the pandemic. Moreover, the case fatality rate per million inhabitants increased fourfold from 8 May, going from 9 to 39.[67]
On 23 June, President Iván Duque announced a sixth extension of the nationwide lockdown until 15 July, with the same restrictions and exceptions that were in place up to that moment. The reopening of economic sectors would still be subject to the discretion of local authorities, while pilot programs to test the reopening of additional sectors such as restaurants and places of religious worship were announced to be held in municipalities with low numbers of coronavirus infections.[68]
July
On 1 July the Ministry of Health reported 4,163 new cases out of 18,054 processed samples, with which Colombia exceeded the figure of 100,000 positive cases for COVID-19, reaching a total of 102,009. 136 deaths and 1,334 recoveries were also reported on that day, for a total of 3,470 and 43,407, respectively.[69]
On 3 July it was revealed that a judge of Bogotá ruled in favour of the tutelage action lodged by the "Rebelión de las canas" group, ordering the Government to allow the elderly population to leave their homes for outdoor physical exercise two hours every day instead of an hour thrice a week as they were being allowed.[70] In response to this ruling, President Iván Duque said that he would comply with the ruling, but exhorted the elderly population to stay at home on account of the evidence of the lethality of the virus in this segment of the population. Based on this, he announced that the Government would lodge an appeal against the ruling.[71]
On 7 July, a further extension of the nationwide lockdown until 1 August was announced by President Iván Duque, who also confirmed that municipalities with no coronavirus infections or with low infection rates would be allowed to open restaurants, theaters and gyms under strict protocols at the request of mayors. According to the President, as of that day 490 out of the country's 1,122 municipalities had not reported any COVID-19 cases, while 100 had low infection rates and a further 295 had not reported cases in the last three weeks.[72] It was also announced that a pilot for reactivation of domestic flights was authorized to be carried out in the route between Bucaramanga and Cúcuta, with the date for the first flight to be decided by mutual agreement with the authorities of both cities.[73] On 16 July, Duque confirmed that this first pilot would be held on 21 July.[74]
On 9 July, mayor of Cali Jorge Iván Ospina announced that ivermectin would start being used experimentally to treat patients with COVID-19 in the city who are in the early stages of the disease with the aim of preventing the symptoms from worsening and curtail the viral load, thus reducing the amount of severe cases that would require admission to intensive care units. The medication, primarily used to treat parasite infestations, was reported to have been used in Ecuador, Peru, and Cuba with positive results.[75] Despite having pointed out that there was no scientific evidence on the effectiveness of ivermectin to treat patients with COVID-19, the National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance (Invima) greenlit the conduct of a clinical study in Cali with 400 patients for 28 days to determine its effectiveness as a treatment. After the announcement by mayor Ospina, it was reported that citizens in Cali headed to drugstores to buy ivermectin, leading authorities and health experts to tell citizens to not self-medicate themselves.[76][77]
On 10 July, mayor of Bogotá Claudia López announced a series of 14-day sectorized lockdowns to be enforced from 13 July as a measure to cope with the peak of the pandemic, which was expected to occur in the city by early August. Fifteen out of the city's 20 localities were split into three groups, with the first of those comprising the Ciudad Bolívar, San Cristóbal, Rafael Uribe Uribe, Chapinero, Santa Fe, Usme, Los Mártires and Tunjuelito localities being under lockdown from 13 to 26 July. The second group, comprising the Bosa, Kennedy, Puente Aranda and Fontibón localities, would be under lockdown from 27 July to 9 August, while the last group, comprising the Suba, Engativá and Barrios Unidos localities would be under lockdown from 10 to 23 August.[78]
On 13 July, and due to the steady increase of COVID-19 cases in Medellín and the Antioquia Department, mayor of Medellín Daniel Quintero declared a "state of total care" (Estado de cuidado total) in coordination with department and national governments. The declaration implied that strict lockdowns would be enforced in Medellín and the other municipalities making up the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley every weekend, with four days of opening and three days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) of closure per week. In case of a holiday falling on Monday, that day would also be included in the periods of closure.[79] Mayor Quintero would confirm on 28 July that he had tested positive for the disease, being asymptomatic.[80]
By 16 July, and despite the expansion of hospital capacity that had been carried out since the onset of the pandemic to strengthen the country's health system, several cities were already reporting high percentages of ICU occupancy: 91% in Bogotá, 86% in Medellín, 95% in Cali, and 82% in Montería, while Riohacha and Quibdó reported less than 10 units still available in each city. In Barranquilla, where an orange alert was declared in mid-June and had ICU occupancy peak at 90%, occupancy was reported to have lowered to 73%.[81]
On 28 July, Health Minister Fernando Ruiz stated in an interview with W Radio that Colombia had signed confidentiality agreements with two pharmaceutical companies for the acquisition of a vaccine for COVID-19. The companies with which those agreements had been signed were reported to be Pfizer and AstraZeneca, which at the time was developing a vaccine along with Oxford University. According to the minister's estimate, six million people were expected to be vaccinated in a first stage, and in addition to twose two agreements, Ruiz stated that the country would be looking to reach agreements with at least three other companies.[82] That same day, the daily number of new positive cases surpassed 10,000 for the first time since the onset of the pandemic, with 10,284 new cases being reported by the National Health Institute.[83] During his daily broadcast, President Iván Duque announced a further extension of the nationwide lockdown for one month until 30 August, stating that municipalities with none or low COVID-19 infections would continue with the reopening of economic sectors avoiding large gatherings, while areas with high infection rates would continue under more stringent restrictions.[84]
August
On 5 August, former President Álvaro Uribe was confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19, being asymptomatic. His two sons Tomás and Jerónimo were also reported to have tested positive.[85]
On 11 August, it was announced that the Ministries of Health and of the Interior greenlit pilot plans for operation of six routes from José María Córdova International Airport in Rionegro, which serves Medellín. The routes authorized to operate were the ones from Rionegro to Bucaramanga, Cúcuta, Pereira, Manizales, Armenia, and San Andrés Island.[86] By 13 August, it was confirmed that 15 airports had been enabled to resume operations with pilot flights: in addition to Bucaramanga, Cúcuta and Rionegro, Palmira (serving Cali), Soledad (serving Barranquilla), Cartagena, Santa Marta, Armenia, Pereira, Manizales, Medellín, Montería, Bogotá, Chachagüí (serving Pasto) and San Andrés were all approved to resume operations upon agreement between local authorities of their respective cities, with Villavicencio also expected to present a proposal for resumption of flights to and from said city. Mayor of Bogotá Claudia López stated that flight operation from Bogotá would be resumed as of 1 September with flights to Cartagena, Leticia and San Andrés, destinations approved by the Ministry of Health considering that by then they would have passed the peak of the pandemic and that, in addition, meet epidemiological criteria. Additionally, it was announced that a negative COVID-19 test would be required to enter San Andrés Island, which travellers would have to take two days before the flight.[87]
On 13 August, mayor of Bogotá Claudia López announced that over 1.2 million people living in the localities of Usaquén, Chapinero, Santa Fe, La Candelaria, Teusaquillo, Puente Aranda, and Antonio Nariño would be under a two-week lockdown from 16 to 30 August as these zones still had high speed of virus transmission and affectation. While Puente Aranda, Chapinero, Santa Fe, and Antonio Nariño had already experienced the sectorized lockdown model, those zones were once again quarantined since the aforementioned factors had not been lowered.[88] This announcement was met with mixed reactions: while citizens from some of the localities to go under lockdown praised the decision, other citizens, as well as traders and entrepreneurs voiced their disagreement and staged protests against the measure.[89]
Impact
Economy and employment
With the pandemic came Colombia's most severe economic recession in at least a century.[90] April's inflation rate dropped to 0.16%, the lowest inflation rate since 2013.[91] In May, the inflation rate went negative.[92] Colombia's gross domestic product ("producto interno bruto", or PIB) only grew 1.1% in the first trimester of 2020, in contrast to the 2.9% growth achieved in the first trimester of 2019.[93] For the second trimester of 2020, the country's GDP fell by 15.7% compared to the same period of 2019, which was reported to be the greatest economic decline in recent history in Colombia. The economic activities that were hit the hardest were: wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, transportation and storage, accommodation and food services (which decreased by 34.3% and contributed –6.6 percentage points to the annual variation); manufacturing industries (which decreased by 25.4% and contributed –3.1 percentage points to the annual variation), and construction, which decreased by 31.7% and contributed –2.1 percentage points to the annual variation). In total, for the first semester of the year, the GDP decreased by 7.4% compared to the same period of the previous year.[94]
The monthly unemployment rate in Bogotá jumped from 13% in March to 21.6% in April.[95] By early May 2020, a quarter of Colombians aged 18–25 and a fifth of Colombians aged 26–40 had lost their jobs, according to a poll by McCann Worldgroup. Many others stated they had their working hours reduced or had to take a second job. A majority of Colombians (8 in 10) had their income reduced compared to the one received before the pandemic.[96]
Banking
By mid-April, Grupo Aval reported it had succeeded in opening bank accounts for 77,000 pensioners, people who faced the highest risk of COVID-19 infection due to their age.[97]
Starting from 18 May, the Financial Superintendence of Colombia issued guidelines on in-person customer service for banks and financial entities, ordering measures such as opening at least 85% of their branches, extending their opening hours to at least six hours a day from Monday to Friday and four hours if open on Saturdays, and establishing priority service hours for people over 60 or with special conditions.[98]
Travel and transportation
On 13 March, the government announced that it would close the border with Venezuela,[99] extending the closure to all land borders shortly afterwards.[100] With the start of the nationwide lockdown in late March, both domestic and international flights were shut down and only cargo and humanitarian flights were allowed to continue operating.[101]
On 10 May Avianca, the country's flagship airline as well as the second largest one in Latin America, announced that it had filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States due to the impact of the pandemic. The airline, having suspended all its passenger operations since late March due to the government's decision to close the country's airspace, had to ground 142 aircraft, send 12,000 out of its 20,000 employees on unpaid leave, and saw its income reduced by over 80 per cent.[102] In late May it was confirmed that LATAM Colombia, the country's second largest airline, had also filed for Chapter 11 along with its parent company and other subsidiaries.[103]
On 28 May, the Colombian government through Transportation Minister Ángela María Orozco confirmed that international flights would remain barred until at least 31 August, but stated that they could likely resume in September.[53] Domestic flights and intermunicipal transport, however, were expected to resume in July.[104][105]
From 20 March, urban mass transit systems were running at only 10–15% of their usual occupancy. As the economy reactivated, and government guidelines ordered vehicle occupation to be capped at a 35% maximum, passengers increased but ridership remained low. The operation of Transmetro in Barranquilla was suspended on the morning of 2 May until further notice as passengers were not abiding by social distancing instructions within the system and vehicles were overcrowded.[106] Transmetro resumed operation three days later with adjusted health protocols.[107]
By 11 May, vehicles in Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, Bucaramanga, and Pereira were being used to about one-quarter of their usual occupancy (using pre-quarantine levels in early March as a reference point), while in Barranquilla they operated with less than one-fifth of their usual occupancy, and in Cartagena vehicles had only 6% of their usual occupancy. As a result, in May it was estimated that Colombian mass transit systems would lose COP 1.8 trillion (US$450 million) by the end of 2020.[108]
Starting from 15 August, the operation of 21 routes of Cali's MIO was suspended, and 23 others had their hours of operation reduced to peak hours. This decision was made owing to the fact that the pandemic caused the mass transit system's demand to plummet to an average of 162,000 passengers per day, a 63% decrease from the average of 438,000 passengers per day mobilized in February, while revenue from ticket sales decreased by 60%, thus worsening the system's financial crisis.[109]
Restaurants and retail
Considering that the Mother's Day holiday is key for businesses such as restaurants and retail commerce, most of which were closed due to the national lockdown, the Colombian National Federation of Commerce (Fenalco) requested for the holiday to be moved to another date in the second semester of the year after the health emergency was over. In response to that request, Colombian Minister of Trade José Manuel Restrepo stated that the original date would stand, however, an extra holiday in the second semester of the year would be granted as well.[110]
The increase in food delivery and postal shipping increased demand for disposable materials like plastic and styrofoam. In May 2020, an opinion poll found that a majority in the cities of Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, and Barranquilla approved of the usage of plastic for these purposes. The poll also found that half of people under 25 years old reported they were using more plastic bags than they had used a year earlier and that only a quarter regretted this increase.[111]
The first of three "VAT-free days", approved by the Colombian government in late 2019, was held on 19 June. The measure, aimed at helping economic recovery by jump-starting consumption and purchase of clothes, televisions and other consumer goods amid soaring unemployment and monthly economic contraction in the double digits, prompted citizens to flock to shopping centres to take advantage of bargains. There were long queues outside some stores and social media was flooded with images of people jostling to enter shops and hauling away TVs and other consumer goods. Most people seemed to be wearing masks but in many cases social distancing was non-existent, and some shops had to be closed. Minister of Trade José Manuel Restrepo stated that the day was an economic success, with sales across the country being five times higher than on a regular day during the pandemic and 30% higher compared to levels before the start of the lockdown. Online sales were also 18 times higher than on a regular day, with the websites of some stores struggling to cope with demand. President Iván Duque pointed out that most people had observed social distancing during the day, but also acknowledged that there were crowds in some places and citizen behaviour had not been good enough. The day was harshly criticized by local rulers such as mayor of Bogotá Claudia López, who dubbed it as "Covid Friday", citizens in social media, epidemiologists and health experts, who expressed concern over the realization of such a day in the midst of a pandemic and at a moment when the number of daily cases was increasing rapidly and the peak of the pandemic had not been reached yet. They also stated fears that one of the activity's future consequences would be the increase of the speed of transmission of coronavirus, thus damaging the effort made during the lockdown.[112][113] Two further VAT-free days were scheduled for 3 and 19 July, with the purchase of electric appliances and other tech devices such as televisions, computers and mobile phones being restricted to online sales for those days in order to discourage crowding in shops.[114] On 15 July, President Duque announced that the third VAT-free day scheduled for 19 July would be put off to a later date due to new measures to be issued together with local authorities as COVID-19 cases were spiking in the country.[115]
By early July, one-third of restaurants in Colombia had closed permanently, as they were generally unable to obtain long-term concessions from their landlords.[116]
Public order
According to a report by Human Rights Watch, rebel groups such as the ELN and dissenters of FARC as well as drug cartels have taken advantage of the isolation measures taken in the framework of the pandemic, as well as the absence of the Colombian state in some zones, to exercise social control measures in areas of various departments of the country. The report stated that armed groups were imposing rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in at least 11 of Colombia's 32 departments: Arauca, Bolívar, Caquetá, Cauca, Chocó, Córdoba, Guaviare, Huila, Nariño, Norte de Santander and Putumayo, which were reportedly stricter than the measures issued by the Colombian government, using or threatening to use violence to enforce their rules, and even punishing with death to those who failed to comply with them.[117][118]
Government responses
On 24 March, President Iván Duque announced the introduction of a program named Ingreso Solidario intended to distribute government assistance during the health emergency to 3 million families that were either working in informality or not covered by other social welfare programs, for which people could apply online. Three payouts of approximately COP 160,000 (US$38.4) each were planned.[119] By the time the second payout was announced, 500,000 families had been accepted into the program.[120][121] On 24 June, Duque announced the extension of the Ingreso Solidario program until December 2020.[122] Another program named Colombia Está Contigo and intended to deliver humanitarian assistance packages to recipients, specifically including transgender people, was created by the National Department for Disaster Risk Management (Departamento Nacional de Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres).[123]
Starting from 24 March, the television show Prevención y acción (Prevention and Action) is broadcast daily from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. with President Duque explaining to citizens the most recent updates on the pandemic in the country and the decisions made by the government to contain it. While the show recorded relatively high rating numbers during its first two months and has been considered by figures such as Pan American Health Organization Assistant Director Jarbas Barbosa as an example on how to inform and communicate updates on the situation to citizens, opposition politicians have considered it to be "an abusive use of the media by the President to make irrelevant announcements and permanent advertisement" and have requested for it to be shut down. As of 7 July, the show had completed 100 broadcasts.[124]
On 20 April 2020, the Colombian Congress began holding virtual sessions. Existing Congressional rules neither explicitly allowed nor forbade virtual sessions. It was the first time in Colombia's history that Congress had convened online.[125] The inauguration of the Congress's second ordinary session of the year, scheduled to be held on 20 July 2020, was confirmed to be virtual, accompanied by the Office of the Inspector General to ensure transparency in the election process of the new directives of the Senate.[126]
In late June, the city of Bogotá announced the initiative #DonatónPorLosNiños to distribute donated computers to children in public schools to enable them to attend school online.[127] By the end of June, nearly 500 computers and more than COP 76 million (approximately US$20,000) had been collected.[128]
Charitable funds
Colombia Cuida a Colombia, which featured an online music festival on 1 May, raised COP 1.9 billion (roughly half a million U.S. dollars) from 42,000 donors.[129]
Netflix donated US$500,000 (COP 1.994 billion) to assist over 1,500 technicians in the film industry who had lost their jobs. The fund was administrated by the Colombian Academy of Film Arts and Sciences (Academia Colombiana de Artes y Ciencias Cinematográficas - Acacc).[130]
From 6 to 9 May, the Federación de Loterías de Colombia (Fedelco) raised funds for 10,000 lottery ticket vendors (loteros) who were unable to work during the national lockdown and the subsequent suspension of lotteries and gambling.[131]
Prisons
Outbreaks
By the end of April, following increased testing efforts at the prison in Villavicencio, over 15% of prisoners there were diagnosed positive.[132] On 29 April, the number of positive cases at Villavicencio prison reached 314.[41] In early May, 7 percent of all confirmed cases in Colombia were in the central prison of Villavicencio.[133] By 3 June 89% of all cases in Meta (878 of 983) were at this prison.[134]
By 15 May, the outbreak at La Picota prison in Bogotá had ended as INPEC confirmed that the five inmates there who had been diagnosed with the illness had all recovered,[135] but there were still active outbreaks at six of the country's 132 prisons.[136] Positive cases had been confirmed at prisons in Florencia, Ibagué, and Guaduas. In the prison in Leticia, in the Amazonas Department, there were 90 cases in two weeks.[137][41] Ternera prison in Cartagena reported its first case on 14 May.[138]
An outbreak at Villahermosa prison in Cali was confirmed to have emerged in early June, with 18 people between prisoners, INPEC guards and police members having been confirmed as positive COVID-19 cases on 6 June.[139] This prompted Cali's Health Secretary to carry on mass screening and tests within the prison, which houses 5,643 prisoners and has an overcrowding of nearly 300%.[140] By 8 June, the number of infected people reached 119, while by 12 June 312 people at the prison were infected: 271 inmates and 41 officials, and one person died from the disease.[141]
Riots
On the evening of 21 March, about 23 prisoners were killed and 83 injured during a riot at La Modelo prison in Bogotá which erupted amid fears over spreading of the coronavirus through prison walls.[142][143] Prisoners across the country were protesting against overcrowding in prisons as well as poor health services ever since the outbreak of COVID-19.[144]
On 4 May, a brawl broke out at the municipal prison in San José del Guaviare, where it was discovered that inmates had used alcohol-based sanitizer to get drunk. The sanitizer had been donated to help prisoners keep their living spaces clean during the outbreak.[145]
Prisoner release
On 15 April, the government issued a decree (which it had announced three weeks earlier) to allow 5,000 prisoners to return to their homes. The focus was on prisoners who were disabled, ill, over 60 years old, or new mothers (pregnant, nursing, or with children under age 3), and who had already served about half of their original brief sentence.[146] By 4 May 268 prisoners had been released under the terms of this decree. Moreover, thousands of other prisoners were released by ordinary mechanisms such as expiration of their sentences.[147] By mid-May, requests for release from over five hundred prisoners had been approved, while a thousand requests had been denied.[136]
Statistics
Current number of cases by department
| Department | Confirmed cases | Confirmed deaths | Recovered | Active cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 158,674 | 4,269 | 87,444 | 66,961 |
 | 60,873 | 1,121 | 32,702 | 27,050 |
 | 60,542 | 2,756 | 49,508 | 8,278 |
 | 36,847 | 1,374 | 23,906 | 11,567 |
.svg.png){kind=small} | 21,593 | 644 | 17,697 | 3,252 |
 | 14,572 | 413 | 8,295 | 5,864 |
 | 13,231 | 936 | 6,227 | 6,068 |
 | 11,273 | 400 | 7,105 | 3,768 |
 | 9,915 | 498 | 6,037 | 3,380 |
.svg.png){kind=small} | 9,608 | 378 | 3,417 | 5,813 |
.svg.png){kind=small} | 8,443 | 413 | 5,512 | 2,518 |
 | 6,500 | 368 | 2,800 | 3,332 |
 | 5,452 | 117 | 2,748 | 2,587 |
 | 5,014 | 88 | 2,818 | 2,108 |
 | 4,327 | 98 | 2,263 | 1,966 |
 | 3,511 | 100 | 1,307 | 2,104 |
 | 3,475 | 62 | 1,410 | 2,003 |
 | 3,439 | 123 | 2,768 | 548 |
 | 3,379 | 166 | 2,043 | 1,170 |
 | 3,222 | 112 | 1,732 | 1,378 |
.svg.png){kind=small} | 2,654 | 107 | 2,404 | 143 |
 | 2,343 | 60 | 875 | 1,408 |
 | 2,063 | 52 | 875 | 1,136 |
 | 1,884 | 89 | 792 | 1,003 |
 | 1,599 | 24 | 721 | 854 |
 | 649 | 18 | 310 | 321 |
 | 613 | 12 | 266 | 335 |
 | 560 | 10 | 225 | 325 |
 | 193 | 0 | 97 | 96 |
 | 139 | 1 | 60 | 78 |
 | 82 | 0 | 38 | 44 |
 | 14 | 1 | 13 | 0 |
 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
 | 456,689 | 14,810 | 274,420 | 167,459 |
Charts
Total confirmed cases
Confirmed new cases per day
Confirmed deaths per day
Confirmed recoveries per day
See also
- COVID-19 pandemic by country
- COVID-19 pandemic in South America
- 2020 in Colombia
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- "¿Cómo entró el coronavirus a una cárcel en cuarentena como la de Cali?". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 10 June 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- "Recluso de la Cárcel Villahermosa con covid-19 falleció este viernes, ahora hay 312 positivos". El País (in Spanish). 12 June 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
- "Colombia coronavirus: 23 killed in prison riot". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- Vera, Amir. "23 dead in prison riot in Colombia prompted by coronavirus fears, Ministry of Justice says". CNN. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- BBC (23 March 2020). "At least 23 killed in Colombia prison unrest". BBC News. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- "Presos en el Guaviare se tomaron el alcohol que les dieron en un kit de desinfección" (in Spanish). El Espectador. 11 May 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
- "Este es el decreto de Minjusticia para excarcelación de presos". El Tiempo (in Spanish). 14 April 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
- Redacción Justicia (5 May 2020). "El hacinamiento carcelario se redujo 5,59 por ciento en abril". El Tiempo (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 May 2020.
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