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In the same way, they consider that Bogotá should declare itself a health emergency and that the quarantine in Suba, Engativá and Usaquén is not enough to deal with the COVID-19 panorama that Bogotá faces.
Controversy continues due to the announcement made by the mayor in charge of Bogotá, Luis Ernesto Gomez, to put in strict quarantine to the towns of Suba, Engativá and Usaquén, due to the high percentage of occupancy registered by the beds FIA for patients COVID-19, which reached 77.7% this Monday.
One of the first to rise up against this measure was Fenalco Bogotá Cundinamarca, a federation that described it as “disastrous” and inefficient to deal with the emergency, since it not only puts the financial stability of a considerable group of businesses at risk, but it will also have no effect due to the informality that it would generate. In short, they believe that more people will take to the streets to seek their livelihood, and with them, the increase in infections.
It may interest you: Fenalco describes the new quarantine by localities in Bogotá as “fatal”
Another look is the one recently communicated by the Bogotá Medical College, which considers that quarantining these three localities “is not enough if the population is not educated and their social conditions are not addressed, which lead them not to follow the public health recommendations.
In the same way, the school considers it urgent that Bogotá declare the hospital red alert, which is achieved when ICU occupancy is exceeded by 75%. As mentioned before, Bogotá already consolidates 77.7%, however, sometimes in the past, the alert is not issued until a few days have passed at those levels, since these may vary. In fact, Mayor Claudia López said at the end of the year that a reduction in the figures was expected as January progressed and the tail of the year-end celebrations passed.
But what does the declaration of a hospital red alert mean? According to the District Health Secretariat, this leads to the presence of administrative and assistance personnel at different levels and services, to the activation of the mechanisms that guarantee the supply of elements, supplies and equipment for patient care, in addition, all elective activities.
It also calls for a health emergency to be declared. according to an article in the National University, is a condition that allows the President of the Republic to legislate without the help of Congress, such as decrees related to public services, employment contracts, the right to health and others related to the pandemic.
According to the school, the figures provided by the District Secretary of Health on the occupancy of ICU beds do not correspond with the reality in hospitals and clinics. “Of 60 health institutions equipped with ICU beds, 23 already have 100% occupancy and the remaining is 70% to 100%.
The situation raised by the school is worrisome, because, using figures managed by the Association of Emergency and Emergency Medicine (ACEM), 30% of the health personnel in Bogotá are not available, because some have died, while others are incapacitated or isolated by the pandemic, in addition to those who have renounced their contracts due to the lack of biosecurity guarantees and other lack of decent working conditions.
Finally, the school asks the District to define a clear strategy that recovers and strengthens the leadership of public health, since isolation and quarantine, he assures, does not completely resolve the situation.
