BOGOTA, Colombia — Earlier on Thursday Colombia announced easing several lockdown measures to reactivate its economy amid the third wave of the pandemic.
The Health Ministry mentioned that Colombia will no longer require a negative coronavirus test from travelers entering the nation by air and that students will return to classrooms once the vaccination of teachers is completed in July.
The ministry also announced that concerts, large sporting events, and nightclubs at 25% capacity will be allowed in cities with less than 85% occupancy of ICU beds. This could rise to 50% of capacity in cities that have vaccinated 70% of their population within the first stage, which includes older adults, health staff, teachers, and patients with chronic diseases.
Colombia, with 50 million inhabitants, has received 14 million doses of vaccine from Pfizer, Sinovac, and AstraZeneca, and it has applied 10.3 million doses, based on government figures.
“This does not mean we can’t have the fourth peak,” Health Minister Fernando Ruiz mentioned in a statement. “We will continue with the use of masks, hand washing, and distancing.”
Colombia’s business sector celebrated the easing of restrictions, but some healthcare workers in cities such as Bogota, Cali, and Medellin mentioned they were exhausted with ICUs reaching occupancy rates of 96% to 99%.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, they called us angels, the super protectors of these sufferers,” mentioned Fabián Pardo Rodríguez, a nursing assistant at La Samaritana University Hospital. “As of this moment with what is happening, we feel fully alone.”
The hospital, located in the heart of Bogotá, is at full capacity and created a place called the “peace room” where families can view the lifeless bodies of their loved ones from a distance.
