Selective isolation in Colombia will last until October, Duque announced

In Colombia, the selective isolation phase, in force since last September 1, was extended until the end of October, assured President Iván Duque, this Monday.

In principle, this new stage that granted freedom to citizens after several months of quarantine due to the covid-19 pandemic, was established until 00:00 on October 1, according to Decree 1168 of 2020.

However, during his usual televised program ‘Prevention and action’, the president announced the extension of this national provision.

“I want to make it clear that the decree that we issued for the first month of selective isolation will be extended throughout the month of October,” Duque said.

This being the case, the openings, measures “and rules that we have followed up to now in September remain,” the president said.

Also read: What is selective isolation ?: key questions about the new phase that Colombia is entering

It should be noted that selective isolation differs from the other stages because the restrictions are limited to crowds and massive events.

Before the start of a new month under this model, Duque invited citizens to prevent agglomerations by enforcing individual distancing.

For his part, the Deputy Minister of Health, Luis Alexander Moscoso, called for prevention, because “the pandemic has not ended, it is there.”

“The situation can evolve to improvement but also to deterioration. It depends on everyone’s commitment. A special call to people over 60 years of age and with chronic diseases, who continue to be the most affected group,” he said.

Colombia registers 25,641 deaths related to covid-19 and 818,203 positive cases of the disease since the start of the pandemic.

The selective isolation is expected to last until the end of November, when the health emergency ends.