Can Colombia prevent another lockdown amid Brazilian COVID-19 threat?
April 9, 2021
Some of Colombia’s largest cities have been forced to reinstate lockdowns as a new surge in COVID-19 infections is knocking down hospitals and slowing down vaccination efforts.
Health Minister Fernando Ruiz and Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez declared an orange alert in the capital on Thursday, restricting its 7 million inhabitants’ access to shopping centers, banks and public buildings and a nightly curfew.
Authorities in Medellin and Barranquilla were forced to impose a 24-hour curfew until early Tuesday after their hospital systems collapsed.
The Brazilian threat
Valle del Cauca Governor Clara Luz Roldan warned that she may shut down Cali and surrounding cities as a COVID-19 variant from Brazil appears to be saturating hospitals.
Amor X Locombia: Hope for Colombia During COVID-19
April 9, 2021COVID-19
LAWRENCE, Kansas The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the world in ways that could have never been predicted. Aside from the physical suffering of many because of it, financial hardships bore down on individuals globally. In Colombia during COVID-19, this has been no exception. Yet, there is notable hope for many Colombians because of Camila Ordóñez Vargas and Amor X Locombia (Love for Locombia).
The Onset of COVID-19 in Colombia
Many people in Colombia during COVID-19 have faced considerable financial setbacks that naturally affect all other aspects of life. The pandemic arguably could not have hit at a worse time, as poverty reduction around the country gained momentum.
Photo: Antonio Lacerda/EFE
The coronavirus pandemic shows no sign of retreating across South America despite governments ratcheting up vaccination campaigns and placing their largest cities in quarantine; and Tuesday, a grim day for infections and deaths.
The South American country with the highest single-day death toll was Brazil adding 4,195 victims to reach the harrowing number of 336,957. The nationâs Health Ministry also confirmed 87,000 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the total case count of infections above 13.1 million.
Argentina also witnessed on Tuesday its worst day on record for new cases – 21,870 – and while the virus took another 163 lives, the Austral nation’s death toll â 56,634 – is surpassed only in the region by Brazil and Colombia.
Bogota to impose lockdown as Covid-19 cases rise in Colombia
Issued on:
06/04/2021 - 09:26 People wait to be inoculated with the AstraZeneca vaccine in Bogota. The city of eight million will be put under strict lockdown from Saturday to battle a third wave of the pandemic Raul ARBOLEDA AFP 2 min
Bogota (AFP)
Eight million inhabitants of Bogota will be put under strict lockdown from Saturday, mayor Claudia Lopez said as the Colombian city battles a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. This weekend, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, we are all going to stay at home. In all of Bogota, only strictly essential activities will be allowed, Lopez said in a video posted on Twitter Monday.
Updated / Tuesday, 6 Apr 2021
09:47
The WHO estimates that many ICUs in Brazil s hospitals are more than 90% full
Coronavirus-related deaths worldwide have crossed 3 million, according to a Reuters tally, as the latest global resurgence of Covid-19 infections is challenging vaccination efforts across the globe.
Worldwide Covid-19 deaths are rising once again, especially in Brazil and India.
Health officials blame more infectious variants that were first detected in the United Kingdom and South Africa, along with public fatigue with lockdowns and other restrictions.
According to a Reuters tally, it took more than a year for the global coronavirus death toll to reach 2 million.