Curfew: this is how restrictions began for December 31 and January 1 – Other Cities – Colombia

This year is finally over! That, probably, will be one of the phrases that will be heard the most in the New Year’s celebrations, which this year will be atypical, since more than half of the country will be under curfew.

So 2021 will be received with few hugs, without going to greet the neighbors, without closed blocks and without going around the block with suitcases.

(Further: Know the curfew times in your city for New Years)

And it is that Colombia lives this Thursday an atypical end of the year due to the covid-19, because to prevent the spread of the virus from increasing and that the health system may collapse, most of the capital cities and a large part of the municipalities of almost all the departments will have a curfew tonight.

Taking the Dane population figures as a reference, the restriction on mobility covers approximately 31,992,586 people. The measure is applied to prevent an increase in the number of covid-19 cases nationwide, as happened after the celebration of candles, on December 7 and 8, since two weeks after that celebration (on December 25) the country registered 14,941 infections, which was until this Thursday the highest number registered in a day since the pandemic began.

(In other news: They found the body of Daniela Patiño in the Porce River, in Antioquia)

But now this Thursday’s record, with 16,314 new cases, is the highest in the country.

After these figures, the health and administrative authorities of the places with the most cases, such as Bogotá, Antioquia and Valle del Cauca, argued that social indiscipline during the holidays was the cause of the drastic increase in infections.

The measure applies in almost all cases from 10 at night until 5 or 6 in the morning the next day, but In Cali and Medellín, for example, mobility restrictions are stricter, since they go until Sunday.

In the case of Bogotá, where there are no mobility restrictions, there will be a dry law this Thursday and Friday.

Chaos in Medellín before the curfew

“There are no taxis!” A woman commented worriedly as she waved a hand for a yellow vehicle to take her home. It was almost 6:30 pm, an hour and a half before the curfew started in the Antioquia capital. The minutes passed and the attempts were frustrating.

Meanwhile, the sky went from a light blue color to a darker, almost black … night was coming, with a chaotic and hot tint in the center of Medellín because sales did not stop. Doña María Helena Mejía, for example, could not cope with the sale of her special incense.

“Today was really good for me, thank God. Here they buy a lot of incense as I sell it because people who do not know say that incense but that alone does not work, it works it is all complete. With the 13 plants! ”, Commented María, who has been selling this special ritual for 25 years that in December, especially on December 31, has a special demand for the omens that many countries have to receive the New Year.

Very close to it, in the commercial sector known as El Hueco, and despite the fact that it was less than two hours before the curfew began, there were sales of clothes, tennis shoes and toys. This sector of the city seemed to have no eagerness. There is always time for a few last purchases, as happened to Jhon Fredy Rúa Tobón, who in one of the corners had his stand of shirts of different sizes and colors.

(You can also read: A chaotic Medellín before the end of the year curfew)

“Today was rather soft because the Public Space was lowered in the morning and in the afternoon and there were few people. But I’m happy because one goes with the market for the home, “he said, while three clients were choosing various shirts, which will surely be gifts or they will be for the famous ‘drama’ that cannot be missed within the Antioquia culture for the 24th and 31st of December.

In the middle of the rush of some to go to the Parque Berrío or San Antonio metro stations, and as many routes to the tram, there were other buyers with less eagerness. The choice of product was important. Even the parishioners of the San José Church attended the end of the year mass, regardless of the distance, for them faith, perhaps, was more important than the virus.

In contrast, streets such as Avenida Guayabal were already without souls, just the occasional passerby and pressing cars and motorcycles. While some ran, Around 7:00 pm, already in the Parroquia Nuestra Señora de Belén, in the Parque de Belén, in the south of Medellín, there were parishioners listening to mass, even some from the outskirts.

“There is much to be thankful for despite the difficult moments, then one leaves calmer and confident that everything for next year can turn out much better,” said Mary Uribe, a parishioner, who preferred to close the year with her faith.

Contagions and gunpowder disturb the Valley

With a reduction of more than fifty percent in vehicle mobility, Cali arrived at dusk on December 31. The city will enter from 8:00 p.m. on a curfew and dry law until noon on Sunday, January 3.

(You may be interested in: The covid ‘scares’ the other ‘Old Years’ in the farewell of 2020)

The day has passed with some last minute shopping eagerness, a homicide case and some accidents. The authorities call to avoid the use of gunpowder, but this season there have been no shortage of detonations and thirty of burned.

“Save lives” is the banner repeated by Mayor Jorge Iván Ospina, who applies the measures amid a shortage of sedatives and anesthetics that prevent the minor from opening 70 beds of Intensive Care Units (ICU).

The Secretary of Health, Miyerlandi Torres, said that the objective is to curb the rate of contagion, which has reached 1.5 percent and is higher than the national average of 1.1. On Wednesday, December 30, 24 deaths were reached, a figure that had not been recorded since August.

The governor of the Valley, Clara Luz González, ordered that the curfew be from 9:00 at night in 40 of the 42 municipalities. “This measure is necessary given the health emergency in which we are immersed, with an ICU bed occupancy close to 95 percent. We must consider that even before the current contingency, the highest number of cases due to covid-19 was 715, registered in August, and now, the average is 1,000 cases per day ”.

Cali, which manages its own schedules, determined to raise the peak and plate until Monday, January 4, when it will resume with plates 3 and 4 and following, until January 8.

On the other hand, the peak and cédula, of even and odd numbers, are maintained so that a single person from each family nucleus makes purchases of food or medicines. This December 31 corresponds to cards 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9; the first of January will be pairs 2, 4, 6, 8 and 0; and so on.

Barranquilla celebrates at home

The Barranquilleros put a festive atmosphere on this Thursday, December 31, enlivening the responsible end-of-the-year celebration with music and self-care on the terrace of their homes.

Further, Some wait 10:00 pm to enjoy from their homes the virtual concert that the Vallenato artist Silvestre Dangond will offer from Barranquilla to the world.

According to the organizers of the event, the presence of the public is not accepted at the Window to the World monument, where the presentation of the urumitero will be broadcast live. For this reason, 100 uniformed members of the Metropolitan Police monitor the area and the authorities recommend observing it from digital platforms in their homes.

(Further: This is how Barranquilla and the metropolitan area will be monitored at the end of the year)

In the capital of the Atlantic, mobility restrictions range from 1:00 am on January 1 to 6:00 am the same day.

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