Days after saturating hospitals in Colombia’s capital Bogota, the COVID-19 pandemic is close to doing the same in Cali, the country’s third largest city.
Despite efforts to boost Cali’s hospital capacity, the local and national governments seem to be unable to keep up with the speed of the contagion of the worst pandemic since 1918.
According to local health authorities, the occupancy rate of Cali’s 1,300 intensive care units went from 80.5% to 86.1% of its 1,300 units between Friday and Saturday.
Amid growing tensions, Cali Mayor Jorge Ivan Ospina threatened to file criminal charges against private healthcare intermediaries, citing their alleged 15-day delay in returning coronavirus test results, which is complicating an effective response.
To slow down contagion in the city, Ospina declared a red alert, locked down part of the city and imposed a curfew between Friday and Monday, which is Colombia’s Independence Day.
According to Noticias Uno, some 500 members of the security forces were deployed to impose the curfew.
Whether this is enough to prevent the collapse of the city’s healthcare system is uncertain.
Contrary to Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez, whose healthcare system has already collapsed, and Medellin Mayor Daniel Quintero, Cali’s mayor has ruled out a second lockdown of his city.