Colombia imposes new restrictions to avoid severe third coronavirus wave

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Colombia will impose new restrictions on movement and enact nightly curfews in municipalities with high occupancy levels in intensive care units as it tries to avoid a severe third wave of COVID-19, President Ivan Duque said on Tuesday, March 23rd.

The South American country 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 31st to April 5th, people will be restricted as to when they can enter supermarkets, banks and shopping centers, depending on their national identity card numbers in all municipalities where ICU occupancy exceeds 70%.

“This measure is preventive and necessary so that we don’t experience a severe third peak (of coronavirus) in the next few weeks, or in April or May,” Duque said in his nightly broadcast on the pandemic.

Restrictions on mobility will also be imposed from 10 PM to 5 AM over those dates in municipalities where ICU occupancy tops 70%, Duque said. In municipalities where ICU occupancy rates exceed 50%, curfews will be imposed from midnight until 5 AM, he added.

Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, which has 8 million inhabitants, has an ICU occupancy rate of 61.3%, while the next two largest cities, Medellín and Cali, have occupancy rates of 84.5% and 78.8%, respectively.