New per-day cases of coronavirus in Colombia have dropped so sharply that when the Ministry of Health confirmed 294 cases on Tuesday, the news was largely overshadowed by the presidential election campaign.
With less than 300 daily cases, and number not seen since 320 were confirmed on April 24, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has receded to near pre-pandemic levels, and at a critical moment as the BA.2 Omicron sub-variant now accounts for a third of all new infections in the U.S, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as well as rising cases in the UK and Europe.
As active cases of COVID-19 near 5,000 and also expected to fall this week, the Ministry of Health reported 18 additional deaths from the disease, raising the nation’s total since the outbreak on March 6, 2020, to 139,489. The total number of infections stands at 6,081,933.
After a spike in per day cases during the fourth wave with a record 35,575 reported on January 15, on Tuesday, 64 cases were registered in Bogotá, followed by 47 in the department of Bolívar and 42 in Santander. The deceleration comes as the National Vaccination Plan approaches 80 million inoculations, of which 34.4 million Colombians have complete immunization schemes, or 68% of the population. Almost 10 million residents have also received a booster dose.
