Colombia to lift Covid health emergency after more than 2 years

Bogotá, Jun 21 (EFE).- The health emergency declared in Colombia more than two years ago in response to the spread of Covid-19 will end on June 30, the country’s president announced Tuesday.

Iván Duque said that after talking with Health Minister Fernando Ruiz and with the Epidemiological Committee, the decision was made to lift the health emergency because “there is no scientific or epidemiological reason, as analyzed by the committee, to maintain [it] beyond that date.”

“This is a message for the entire country, so we can rejoice and celebrate these collective triumphs. We work, having Colombia in mind. We work based on science and not on politics,” said the president.

“We faced the most difficult moment in our history during this pandemic and Colombia is moving forward.”

Ruiz said that for two weeks they have been analyzing future scenarios and the conditions under which the health emergency was implemented, concluding that it was no longer necessary.

One of the considerations was the reduction of mortality and the better response of the Colombian health system, he added, urging people to continue getting vaccinated.

The health emergency was declared in Colombia on March 12, 2020.

Duque highlighted that Colombia has vaccinated more than 83 percent of the population with at least one dose, more than 70 percent with two, and 36 percent with the first booster.

Colombia has recorded 6.1 million Covid-19 cases and almost 140,000 deaths throughout the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University. EFE

lmg/tw