Colombia sets new record of Covid-19 infections with another 21,669 cases (May 23)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Colombia reported another 21,669 contagions by Covid-19 this Sunday, May 23, and set a new record of daily infections by surpassing the one registered last January 15 when it had 21,078 cases, according to data from the Ministry of Health.

According to its figures, the highest number of infections occurred in Bogotá, with 7,948 cases, followed by Antioquia (2,404), Cundinamarca (1,990), Santander (1,097), Atlántico (946), Valle del Cauca (667), Cesar (573) and Cordoba (559).

The country, which this day also added 496 deaths due to the disease, totals 3,232,456 infections and 84,724 fatalities since the beginning of the pandemic.

The 496 deaths, of which 443 occurred in previous days, were mainly in Bogotá (122), Antioquia (73), Santander (48), Atlántico (45), Valle del Cauca (40), Cundinamarca (25) and Cesar (15).

Of the infections confirmed to date, 110,882 remain active, representing 3.43%, while 3,026,277 reported as recovered cases or 93.62%.

The regions with the highest number of infections continue to be Bogotá (903,121), Antioquia (518,811), Atlántico (266,065), Valle del Cauca (258,125), Cundinamarca (152,516) and Santander (124,270).

Today, 67,032 samples were processed, 42,794 of PCR type, and 24,238 of antigens, for a total of 16.37 million tests performed.

According to the daily report of the Ministry of Health, 100,629 doses of the vaccine against the coronavirus were applied yesterday, for a total of 8,235,482, of which 3,109,420 correspond to second doses.

Bogotá highlighted this Sunday that thanks to the vaccination, the mortality of adults over 70 years of age due to Covid-19 was reduced by 50% during the third peak of the pandemic, which has been the longest and most lethal since the beginning of the health emergency in Colombia.

“With regard to the cases of death, a 50% decrease in deaths due to covid-19 has been documented with respect to the first peak,” stressed the Mayor’s Office of the city. However, it clarified that the data are preliminary, so it is convenient to continue monitoring the figures until the third peak is over.

The epidemiological monitoring team of the Health Secretariat of the Colombian capital also found that with the implementation of the vaccination of older adults, there has been a 20% decrease in active cases in the population over 70 years of age.