Bogotá Mayor Claudia López extended Thursday, the coronavirus “Orange Alert” to five additional Bogotá districts deserving of special prevention measures given their high risk of contagion.
Known as Zonal Planning Units (UPZ), the residents of Pardo Rubio (Chapinero), Puente Aranda (Puente Aranda), Britalia (Suba), Quiroga (Rafael Uribe Uribe) and Bosa Occidental (Bosa) will be under enforced quarantine over the next two weeks despite the fact that most of the capital has begun to enjoy some easing of the National Health Emergency. On Sunday, Mayor López declared the UPZ Bavaria, in the locality of Kennedy, as an Orange Alert zone, followed by others near the city’s largest food depository Corabastos.
Given the importance of Corabastos with food distribution in the city and 30 confirmed cases among workers, this sprawling complex, which receives food from across Colombia, will only open to wholesalers and operate at 35% of its capacity.
According to protocols established by the Mayoralty, an “Orange Alert” includes disinfection of public spaces, special medical care for at-risk populations, permanent epidemiological surveillance with geo-referencing technology and on-site testing for people reporting symptoms.
Bogotá confirmed 207 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, putting the city’s total at 4,892. Cartagena had the second-most amount of cases (108), followed by Valle (79), Barranquilla (66), Amazonas (53), Altántico (49) among other locations.
Three additional deaths in the capital were reported by officials from the Ministry of Health, putting the total death toll for Bogotá at 161. The three additional deaths are part of 16 across Colombia with victims in Manizales, Cartagena, Leticia, Malambo, Cali, Tumaco, Buenaventura, Mosquera and Puebloviejo. The country’s new death toll is 525.
The National Institute of Health processed 5,251 PCR tests on Thursday to confirm 680 new infections, putting Colombia’s new total at 13,610. Thursday marked the highest day-on-day cases of coronavirus in the country.
In the Ministry’s daily report on the spread of coronavirus, 3,358 patients have recovered from the disease since the outbreak on March 6, 2020.
