Colombia’s far-right trying to postpone presidential elections
Colombia’s opposition embarks on anti-election fraud offensive
Establishment candidate in Colombia’s elections linked to mafia
Far-right group goes from opposing communism to opposing...
ELN declares unilateral ceasefire ahead of Colombia’s elections
Colombia’s opposition dismisses US claim of ‘Russian threat’
Colombia’s drug policy a ‘failure’ that obstructed peace:...
Medellin government rejects ‘illegitimate’ interim mayor
Electoral violence in Colombia doubled since 2018
Colombia legalizes assisted suicide in historic ruling
  • About
  • Support
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
Colombia News | Colombia Reports
  • News
    • General
    • Analysis
    • War and peace
    • Elections
    • Economy
    • Culture
    • Sports
    • Science and Tech
  • Travel
    • General
    • Bogota
    • Medellin
    • Cali
    • Cartagena
    • Antioquia
    • Caribbean
    • Pacific
    • Coffee region
    • Amazon
    • Southwest Colombia
    • Northeast Colombia
    • Central Colombia
  • Data
    • Economy
    • Crime and security
    • War and peace
    • Development
    • Cities
    • Regions
    • Provinces
  • Profiles
    • Organized crime
    • Politics
    • Armed conflict
    • Economy
    • Sports
  • Lite
  • Opinion
Analysis

COVID-19: Colombia’s healthcare capacity and collapses

by Adriaan Alsema August 14, 2020

Colombia Reports monitors emergencies and healthcare collapses as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic on a daily basis.

The map below indicates provincial alert levels based on Health Ministry data on available intensive care units and alleged municipal healthcare collapses based on sources from the medical community.

█  <10% (saturated / collapsed)  █  formal red alert  █  10% – 25%  █  25% – 50%  █  50% – 65%  █  65% – 100%


Politics vs. medicine

To define an alert level, Colombia Reports uses standards on the saturation of intensive care units (ICU’s) commonly used by regional authorities.

The declaration of an alert, however, is a political decision. The map on a regional level merely indicates the availability of ICU’s.

Defining a healthcare collapse

A municipal healthcare collapse does not mean a city’s ICU capacity is full, but that the system as a whole is temporarily unable to provide emergency healthcare or refer people to ICU’s.

This is no exact science, open to interpretation and can contradict the reported ICU capacity.

For example, when the personnel of a city hospital’s ICU unit is quarantined, its capacity will go up while critical care effectively has collapsed. Emergency expansions may pull a system out of a state of collapse from one day to another.

Because civilian authorities are reluctant to admit healthcare collapses, Colombia Reports uses sources within the medical community to indicate whether a system has collapsed or not.

The distribution and redistribution of health resources makes this condition subject to change, which is why this is verified daily.

coronavirus

Trending

  • Why Colombia’s upcoming elections could trigger a crisis

  • Colombia’s inspector general suspends mayors on election meddling charges

  • Medellin government rejects ‘illegitimate’ interim mayor

Related articles

  • COVID-19 deaths in Colombia highest since August last year

  • Colombia tightens travel regulations in response to coronavirus

  • Omnicron variant revives debate on Covid checks in Colombia

  • RSS

@2008-2019 - Colombia Reports. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by Digitale Zaken and Parrolabs


Back To Top