Colombia’s Interior Ministry issued a decree on Friday that surprisingly prioritized gambling in an attempt to gradually restart the economy on Monday after a month-long shutdown.
President Ivan Duque last week announced he would allow the reactivation of the manufacturing and construction sectors while maintaining a lockdown.
The decree, however, also included gambling and lottery stands in the article on financial services that were already permitted.
Decentralized execution and control
The decree was initially opposed by the mayor of the capital Bogota, Claudia Lopez, and appears to have been adapted to allow her and other local authorities increased control over the reactivation of the economy.
It not only limits the degree to which the manufacturing industries are allowed to reactivate, it also allows governors and mayors to regulate the execution of the decree and exercise control over the compliance with contagion prevention measures.
Manufacturing sectors that will reopen
- Textile production
- Clothing procuction
- Leather processing
- Wood processing
- Paper and cardboard production
- Production of chemicals
- Metal and steel processing
- Electronics production
Source: Health Ministry
Health security obligations
The employers in the reactivated sectors are obliged to provide all personnel with adequate personal protection equipment (PPE’s); adopt measures to prevent contagion like working in shifts, and promote the use of an app that allows workers to monitor their health and report suspected and confirmed cases of the coronavirus to health intermediaries.”
The employers must additionally step up efforts to keep the working place clean and disinfected, and optimize ventilation.
Employees are obliged to use the provided PPE’s, comply with the biosafety instructions of the employer and report any case of contagion on the work floor or in their families with their employer.
Sporting activity allowed, liquor ban urged
The decree additionally authorized mayors and governors to regulate the possibility of citizens carrying out outside sporting activity for no more than one hour a day.
Additionally, the health ministry urged the local and regional authorities to use their faculties to impose liquor bans.
According to the president, the government will revoke the decree if it leads to an uncontrollable outbreak of the virus as predicted by the country’s medical community.
