With ICUs nearly full, Colombia nears 80,000 COVID-19 deaths

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in Colombia were set to pass 80,000 on Friday with intensive care units almost full in the biggest cities, where large crowds have been gathering in protests that have entered their third week.

Authorities warned this week that the protests – initially over proposed tax reforms but increasingly over other issues including inequality and police brutality – were set to prolong an already devastating third wave of the epidemic.

Bogota’s mayor echoed that warning, saying the capital had on Thursday reported its second-highest number of new COVID-19 cases and highest number of deaths since the pandemic began.

“I don’t know what more to say, to warn, to beg, to plead,” Claudia Lopez said in a Twitter message late on Thursday that urged people to stick to social distancing rules.

On Friday she announced she was infected and would self-isolate.

Demonstrators have marched across Colombia since April 28, around the time that nationwide daily deaths hit a record 505. Since last Friday, deaths have averaged 470 and, as of Thursday, the cumulative toll was 79,760.

The pressure on ICUs in the capital “is worrying”, the government said late on Thursday, adding that patients would be transferred by air to other cities.

ICU occupancy for COVID-19 patients in Bogota stands at 94%, according to local authorities. In Medellin and Cali, the rates are at 99% and 95% respectively.

Health experts say they respect peoples’ right to protest, but warn large groups cannot continue to gather.

“We can’t go on like this,” Andrea Ramirez, an epidemiologist at Bogota’s Universidad de los Andes, told Reuters.

“We’re now talking about an almost life or death situation, as right now if people get sick and need an ICU, they won’t find one.”

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