Bogotá D.C., January 22, 2021. The holding of parties, mass celebrations, gatherings in homes with different families, crowds in shops and relaxation of the measures in December had serious consequences in mortality and infections in January.
This was presented by the deputy minister of Public Health and Provision of Services, Luis Alexander Moscoso, indicating that "Colombia's contagion curve had been flat from August to December, but with the beginning of the "novenas," and later the Christmas and New Year's celebrations, there was a spike in cases with serious effects, which today are reflected in the loss of lives and cases."
Intrafamily gatherings are the main cause for contagion, Moscoso explained, adding that this is a complex effect because the consequence is patient after patient in intensive care units (ICUs). "Today we still have individuals who entered the UCI as a result of the gatherings at Christmas, New Year's or Epiphany," the deputy minister reported.
This is why there is overcrowding in ICUs. However, this is not the situation in all the cities and provinces; for example, in Barranquilla although there have been effects, the impact is small. "This is the result of the measures adopted by the authorities," the official said.
But there are also cities with medium prevalence, which had an unremarkable first peak, but then billowed into a second large peak in December, such as Bogotá, where there was a significant effect at Christmas and New Year's.
"There are also cities with low prevalence, with very linear curves, where we have already begun to have cases, and sadly, we have begun to have bottlenecks in the ICUs that unfortunately will result in loss of lives," said Moscoso, adding that this was the case of the cities of Popayán, Tunja and Manizales.
San Andres, for its part, which has a high occupancy due to tourism, had not suffered significantly. Cartagena and Santa Marta had a similar situation, receiving a great number of tourists.
"The above tells us that conducting activities well, complying with protocols and security measures have an effect, but when we take our mask off and relax our security procedures, this has a negative effect," said the deputy minister.
Additionally, Moscoso indicated that admission to UCI has already stabilized in cities such as Bogotá, Cali and Popayán, and provinces of Nariño, Antioquia and Norte de Santander. "This gives us the impression that in the next few days we will be seeing a reduction, since ICUs have been stabilizing for three days," he said, although noting that this is not enough.
In this regard, he requested all to continue taking measures in each region and that each Colombian must understand that we are still in a pandemic, that we are having critical effects, that it is not the time to hold family gatherings and remember that we are very close to having a vaccine.
Precisely, regarding the vaccine against covid-19, the deputy minister indicated that details in logistics and distribution are still being refined, as well as coordinating actions with the territorial entities, EPSs, IPSs. "We are also working on databases to vaccinate the frontline health workers and adults over 80 years of age. We are making progress in this vaccination process according to the established schedule," he concluded.
