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For two days, eight neighborhoods of four Zonal Planning Units (UPZ) in the town of Kennedy have been on yellow alert. However, several of the sectors with this protection measure, such as María Paz, appear to be zones free of the new coronavirus.
The movement of people around two in the afternoon yesterday was constant in the vicinity of Corabastos. Street vendors, mechanics, drivers, open shops, street dwellers without face masks, passers-by, motorcyclists.
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In front of one of the Corabastos entrances, a man tries to sell a parquet. “I prefer to die of coronavirus and not of hunger, the situation is very hard. I live with my wife in Bosa, we pay $ 600,000 in rent, I lost my job and they say they help you, but nobody helps you, it’s a lie, ”regrets Carlos, 60 years old.
He is just one of the many citizens who go out to this area of the city every day to get some money.
The circulation of people, the high population density in the sector, and the entry and exit of trucks that bring an average of 11 tons of food a day from various municipalities of Cundinamarca and other departments, make this central supply, the largest in the country, at a point of special attention for the pandemic.
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The Ministry of Health has confirmed 14 positive cases there so far, so they have implemented sanitary measures such as 500 sinks with soap dispensers that are distributed throughout the facilities.
Two first aid points have ambulances ready 24 hours a day and there is a team of 16 health professionals who are on the premises throughout the day.
“Measures have been taken, but they have been insufficient. We cannot allow Corabastos to become a risk to the health of Bogotá, but neither are we going to leave it without food. We are working to reduce the influx of people, to control the vehicles entering and leaving, “explained the Secretary of Health, Alejandro Gómez.
Measures have been taken, but they have been insufficient
One of those actions will be to limit the plant’s operation to 35 percent of its capacity, as TransMilenio is doing. This was explained by the Mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López.
Near the central supply, trucks like these carry a message from the mayor to the public.
Óscar Murillo. TIME
“As part of #AlertaNaranja measures at Kennedy, we have agreed with the Ministry of Agriculture, Cundinamarca Interior, Mayor’s Office and Corabastos to reinforce biosafety protocols so that the plant can operate, similarly to TransMilenio, at 35% to mitigate risks.”
If this does not give results, the Secretary of Health stated: “We will have to have more drastic measures.”
For his part, the governor of Cundinamarca, Nicolás García, revealed his concern about what is happening in Corabastos when he mentions that it puts at risk the neighboring populations that supply the city with food.
“We want to ratify the importance of our farmers, they are doing everything to continue with the supply not only in Cundinamarca, but also in Bogotá, but we note with concern that many cases of municipalities that were not covid come from farmers who have gone with effort and dedication to Corabastos ”, García lamented.
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The mayor of Bogotá, attentive to the concern of the governor, told her that she will join efforts “until we achieve that biosecurity protocols are rigorously applied in the plant for its users and neighbors.”
One of the alternatives to guarantee that the central supply operates without jeopardizing the health of those who work or go there is proposed by Jairo Jarrín, research professor at the Universidad de la Sabana and head of the Eica Operations Management Department.
“One way to alleviate the possibilities of contagion and also optimize the logistics operation of Corabastos is to decentralize the operation by enabling other alternative facilities such as: Paloquemao, Codabas, the Lucero Platform,” he suggested.
Governor García added that these alternate plants should be adapted to the income of the city and be fed “with a lighter transport system that allows fewer trips and less contact with the population that brings our food home daily.”
(Further: More than 1,700 people are punished daily for violating the quarantine)
Contagion in the area
Three trucks that go in single file in the middle of a traffic jam in front of a Corabastos entrance are reproducing in high volume a message from the mayor Claudia López, in which she invites citizens to stay home and explains what the alert means orange in which the area is located.
The trucks are from the Mayor’s Office, and in addition to the audio of the president, they have a message written in capital letters: ‘ORANGE ALERT. HIGH CONTAGION AREA of coronavirus. Stay home. ’
“If I don’t work I won’t pay the piece tonight”, Jesús Gutiérrez, 40, and a fruit and vegetable vendor, tells in a wheelbarrow outside the central supply.
“The Government has not given me a single aid, nothing; in this sector there are many people who come out with products to sell, it is a very serious risk because one does not know who is contaminated, the only thing here is to put on face masks and throw lemon on your hands because there is no way to clean yourself well, ”said Gutiérrez.
Precisely, measures such as the orange alert seek to protect the surrounding areas of Corabastos but, according to the testimonies of those who are out there, people are going out, even if they do not want to, to get their livelihood.
“Starting tonight (yesterday) we started working together to implement an operation model with better biosecurity for all users and neighbors in Corabastos. We will ensure that adequate food supplies are maintained in the city, but at the same time mitigate contagion in the area, ”said López.
Óscar Murillo Mojica
TIME
Twitter: @oscarmurillom
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