Colombia Coronavirus Cases Spiral as Lockdown Nears an End

(Bloomberg) -- Colombia now has the fourth-highest number of cases in Latin America, surpassing Chile.

On a per-capita basis, the country’s fatality numbers are the worst in the world, with 43.1 deaths for every million people, according to Johns Hopkins data and Bloomberg calculations. That’s after spiraling cases and mortalities in recent weeks prompted the nation’s two main cities -- Bogota and Medellin -- to reimpose strict lockdowns.

Contributing to the spike are “the dynamics of virus transmission, given a growing number of people on the streets,” Carlos Enrique Trillos, an epidemiologist and medical professor at Rosario University in Bogota, said in a written reply to questions. “There’s fatigue after the long periods of restrictive measures.”

More cases are also being diagnosed, with testing climbing to about 30,000 tests a day, he said.

In Bogota, the stricter lockdown that was imposed according to zones is set to end this week, although some social-distancing measures will remain in place for the rest of the month. Mayor Claudia Lopez said the capital won’t go back to zone-based quarantines and that she is analyzing a package of steps that will be adopted between September and December. Restrictions will be imposed on businesses, but those will be more stable so the different sectors of the economy know what to expect, she told Noticias Caracol on Monday.

Meanwhile, the country’s second-biggest city, Medellin, is in a “plateau” and will likely remain there for three more weeks before infection numbers start to fall, Mayor Daniel Quintero told Blu Radio.

Colombia has registered 387,481 cases and 12,842 deaths from the virus, according to figures from the Health Ministry.

Elsewhere in Latin America:

• After Brazil topped 3 million coronavirus infections on Friday, President Jair Bolsonaro took to social media to criticize how the crisis is being covered in the media, while also arguing against social-distancing measures. He said on Twitter there’s “no shortage of resources, equipment and medicine for states and municipalities.”
• Argentina is considering postponing its population census by more than a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.
• In Bolivia, anti-government protesters have built roadblocks to push back against a delay of general elections and the response to the pandemic.
• Mexico on Tuesday will release industrial production numbers for June, which should add evidence that activity is recovering after a sharp drop in previous months, but remains well below its level prior to the outbreak.

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