Data released by the National Institutes of Health of Colombia on the 24th showed that the country’s cumulative number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus has exceeded 1 million, making it the eighth country in the world and the third country in Latin America with cumulative cases exceeding one million.
Colombia reported its first confirmed case on March 6. At the beginning of the outbreak, the government adopted a series of stricter epidemic prevention measures, including closing border ports, implementing quarantine, and declaring a state of emergency throughout the country, which once inhibited the rapid spread of the virus.
However, with the gradual unblocking of various industries, the number of daily increasing cases began to rise rapidly in the third quarter. In August, the daily increase of cases exceeded 10,000 in 20 days.
On the 23rd, Colombian President Iván Duque Márquez asked all provinces to take precise epidemic prevention measures to strictly control the gathering of personnel to prevent the epidemic from becoming more serious, and to prepare in advance for the next Halloween and Christmas holiday epidemic prevention and control work.
The Ministry of Health and Social Security stated that the Coronavirus across the country is currently in different stages, but overall it has shown a trend of volatility and decline.
There are more than 10,000 intensive care beds in the country, doubling in more than half a year; virus detection and case tracking capabilities are also Continuously improve in an effort to curb the spread of the epidemic.
Colombia has entered a period of more than five months of mandatory preventive isolation since late March, and switched to a period of selective isolation in September.
Although the government has been seeking a balance between controlling the epidemic and resuming production, and has continuously adjusted the resumption of work and production policies, the national economy is still being hit hard in many ways.
At present, the Colombian government has cancelled most of the measures to restrict the movement of people, but strictly restrict the travel of people including confirmed and suspected cases of the Coronavirus and their close contacts.
Cities and towns can formulate anti-epidemic measures such as the upper limit of the number of people in the indoor space according to the actual situation, and more fields such as catering, cultural tourism, sports, and transportation will gradually resume work and production under the premise of strict implementation of anti-epidemic requirements.
Taking Bogotá as an example, museums, gyms, shopping malls and other places reopened under the condition of restricting the number of indoor spaces. Some restaurants provide outdoor dining or dine-in services. The first batch of pilot schools resumed offline teaching.
In an interview with reporters, some people expressed support for the government’s measures to resume production at this stage. Becerra, a graduate of the Environmental Engineering Department of the University of the Andes, said: “The epidemic has developed to this stage, and the economic’new normal’ may be the most suitable choice for everyone.”
Bogota entrepreneur Angel, who is engaged in the communications industry, told reporters that the government’s current epidemic prevention measures have reduced the company’s losses.
“For our industry, it’s unrealistic to work remotely from home. How to scientifically prevent the epidemic and reduce the impact of the epidemic on the economy? It is not only a problem that the government needs to think about, but also something that each of us should pay attention to.”
Some experts also believe that the government should be cautious in the pace of unblocking. Bayonne, the principal of the Faculty of Medicine of Bogotá
told reporters: “The government’s attention to repetitive work and resumption of production is one aspect, but it should increase publicity to make the people fully aware that the epidemic is far from over.” The majority of medical staff appealed to be ready to respond to the new wave of epidemic that may come.
Colombia is the fourth largest economy in Latin America, with a population of about 50 million, ranking third in Latin America. The country has joined the COVAX global Coronavirus vaccine plan led by the World Health Organization.
Through this plan, the government will take the lead in purchasing 10 million doses of vaccine, with a view to giving priority to covering high-risk medical workers, seniors over 60 and patients with underlying diseases in 2021.
