BOGOTA – Colombia will impose new restrictions on movement and enact nightly curfews in municipalities with high occupancy levels in intensive care units because it tries to avoid a severe third wave of COVID-19, President Ivan Duque stated on Tuesday.
The South American nation has reported more than 2.3 million coronavirus infections and 62,274 deaths. It has administered more than 1.23 million vaccine doses so far.
From Friday to Monday and then from March 31 to April 5, individuals will be restricted as to when they can enter supermarkets, banks, and shopping centers, depending on their national id card numbers in all municipalities where ICU occupancy exceeds 70%.
“This measure is preventive and needed so that we don’t experience a severe third peak of coronavirus within the next few weeks, or in April or May,” Duque stated in his nightly broadcast on the pandemic.
Restrictions on mobility will also be imposed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. over those dates in municipalities where ICU occupancy tops 70%, Duque stated.
In municipalities where ICU occupancy rates exceed 50%, curfews will be imposed from midnight till 5 a.m., he added.
Colombia’s capital, Bogota, which has 8 million inhabitants, has an ICU occupancy rate of 61.3%, while the next two largest cities, Medellin and Cali, have occupancy rates of 84.5% and 78.8%, respectively.
