The COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia was a part of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached Colombia on 6 March 2020.
Up to January 2022, four waves affected Colombia: Infections and deaths peaked in August 2020, again in January 2021 following the Christmas holidays, reached new highs between April and June 2021, and a fourth wave was confirmed in late December 2021 following the arrival of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2.
"Confirmed COVID-19" was the primary cause of death in Colombia in 2020, where the virus caused over 50,000 fatalities by the end of the calendar year. An additional 13,000 deaths in Colombia that year were suspected to be caused by COVID-19, making "suspected COVID-19" the third most common cause of death. The "confirmed COVID-19" death toll doubled during the first half of 2021, reaching 100,000 before the end of June (including all deaths from the beginning of the pandemic).
Background
On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan, Hubei, China, which had been reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019. By early February 2020, the global death toll for COVID-19 had already exceeded that of SARS of 2003. Although the case fatality ratio for COVID-19 was much lower than SARS of 2003, COVID-19 was more contagious; this was known by March 2020.
Timeline
On 6 March 2020, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection confirmed Colombia's first case of coronavirus, a 19-year-old female patient who had recently travelled to Milan, Italy. On 9 March, two more cases were confirmed.
President Iván Duque announced that as of 16 March 2020, entry to Colombia would be restricted for visitors who had been in Europe or Asia within the past 14 days. Colombian citizens and residents who had been in Europe or Asia could be admitted into the country, but must undergo a 14-day self-quarantine as a precaution. Additionally, Duque announced Colombia would shut down all of its border crossings with Venezuela, effective as of 14 March.
On 17 March, at 9:00 pm local time (UTC–5), President Iván Duque announced the declaration of a state of emergency, stating that he would take economic measures that were announced the following day. The first measure taken seeking the protection of the elderly was to decree mandatory isolation from 7:00 am on 20 March to 31 May for all adults over 70 years of age. They had to stay in their residences except to stock up on food or access health or financial services. Government entities were instructed to make it easier for them to receive their pensions, medicines, healthcare or food at home.
On the evening of 20 March 2020, President Duque announced a 19-day nationwide quarantine, starting on 24 March at midnight and ending on 12 April at midnight. Due to the fast spread of the virus during the quarantine period, the mandatory nationwide lockdown was extended several times until 1 September 2020, when it was ended by the Colombian government. During the extended lockdown, some essential economic sectors were slowly allowed to resume their activities.
On 21 March 2020, the Ministry of Health confirmed the first death from coronavirus in Colombia, a 58-year-old man who worked as a taxi driver in Cartagena who died on 16 March and reportedly carried Italian tourists on his taxi on 4 March. According to authorities, the person started presenting symptoms two days later. Initially, COVID-19 had been dismissed as the cause of his death as he had tested negative for coronavirus, however, his sister had tested positive for the disease. After the patient's decease, the National Health Institute (INS) analyzed two tests from him, both of which were negative with one of those being taken improperly, but decided to keep the investigation open owing to his sister's condition. Eventually, the INS concluded that the taxi driver was her only possible source of contagion, therefore attributing his death to the new virus in spite of the laboratory evidence stating otherwise.
Entry requirements
From 17 March to 1 September 2020, Colombia denied entry to those who were not Colombian citizens, permanent residents or diplomats.
Land and river borders with four neighboring countries reopened on 19 May 2021, while those with Venezuela remained closed.
Sea borders reopened on 1 December 2020. Beginning 28 December 2021, all travelers over age 18 who enter Colombia from cruise ships, including Colombian nationals, must have a vaccination card showing at least one dose and a negative PCR test result issued within 72 hours before they boarded the cruise ship.
To enter Colombia by air, from 30 September 2020 through 2 June 2021, travelers had to present a negative PCR test result issued within 96 hours before departure. From 14 December 2021, travelers must show proof of full vaccination, or else present a negative PCR test result within 72 hours of boarding.
Impact
Throughout 2020 and part of 2021, quarantines, curfews and other restrictions have been implemented at local levels. Within the capital city of Bogotá, for example, these were sometimes implemented in different sectors of the city at different times.
Economy and employment
With the pandemic came Colombia's most severe economic recession in at least a century. In April 2020, the inflation rate dropped to 0.16%, the lowest since 2013; then, in May, the inflation rate went negative. Colombia's gross domestic product ("producto interno bruto", or PIB) only grew 1.1% in the first trimester of 2020, in contrast to the 2.9% growth achieved in the first trimester of 2019. For the second trimester of 2020, the country's GDP fell by 15.7% compared to the same period of 2019, which was reported as the greatest Colombian economic decline in recent history. The economic activities hit the hardest were: wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles; transportation and storage; accommodation and food services (which decreased by 34.3% and contributed –6.6 percentage points to the annual variation); manufacturing industries (which decreased by 25.4% and contributed –3.1 percentage points to the annual variation); and construction (which decreased by 31.7% and contributed –2.1 percentage points to the annual variation). In total, for the first semester of 2020, the GDP decreased by 7.4% compared to the same period of the previous year.
The monthly unemployment rate in Bogotá jumped from 13% in March to 21.6% in April. By early May 2020, a quarter of Colombians aged 18–25 and a fifth of Colombians aged 26–40 had lost their jobs, according to a poll by McCann Worldgroup. Many others stated they had their working hours reduced or had to take a second job. A majority of Colombians (8 in 10) had less income than before the pandemic. In July, unemployment was 20.2% nationally and 26.1% in Bogotá.
As many college students dropped out, community colleges and trade schools lowered their tuition by about one-quarter on average in 2020.
Banking
During the first six months of 2020, over 1.6 million Colombian adults opened a bank account for the first time, with the result that 85% of Colombian adults now have a bank account. Grupo Aval had pushed for elderly people to open bank accounts, considering that they faced the highest risk of COVID-19; by mid-April 2020, the institution reported having opened bank accounts for 77,000 pensioners.
Starting from 18 May 2020, the Financial Superintendence of Colombia issued guidelines on in-person customer service for banks and financial entities, ordering measures such as opening at least 85% of their branches, extending their opening hours to at least six hours a day from Monday to Friday and four hours if open on Saturdays, and establishing priority service hours for people over 60 or with special conditions.
Air travel
While the city of Bogotá had received 12 million tourists in 2019, only a third as many came in 2020. Similarly, comparing 2019 and 2020, the travel and tourism industry's contribution to the Colombian gross domestic product fell by half.
On 13 March 2020, the government announced that it would close the border with Venezuela, extending the closure to all land borders shortly afterwards. With the start of the nationwide lockdown in late March, both domestic and international flights were shut down and only cargo and humanitarian flights were allowed to continue operating.
On 10 May 2020 Avianca, the country's flagship airline as well as the second largest one in Latin America, announced that it had filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States due to the impact of the pandemic. The airline, having suspended all its passenger operations since late March due to the government's decision to close the country's airspace, had to ground 142 aircraft, send 12,000 out of its 20,000 employees on unpaid leave, and saw its income reduced by over 80 per cent. In late May it was confirmed that LATAM Colombia, the country's second largest airline, had also filed for Chapter 11 along with its parent company and other subsidiaries.
On 28 May 2020, the Colombian government through Transportation Minister Ángela María Orozco confirmed that international flights would remain barred until at least 31 August, but stated that they could likely resume in September. Domestic flights and intermunicipal transport, however, were expected to resume in July.
On 1 September 2020, 38 domestic flight routes between 16 airports and bus terminals in the main cities of the country resumed operation, although bus companies would not be able to travel to any cities on which the government may place restrictions for COVID-19 reasons. There were handwashing and temperature checks at the entrance of both airports and terminals, only travellers were allowed to enter, and waiting rooms required travelers to wear masks and refrain from eating. On 4 September, it was confirmed that departments with infection rates below 1,000 per 100,000 inhabitants and whose main access route from other departments is by air, would request all travellers aged over 7 the result of the coronavirus test to allow entry. People who failed to present it or with a positive result would not be allowed to board the aircraft.
International flights were authorized to resume with a pilot plan from Cartagena's Rafael Núñez International Airport to Fort Lauderdale and Miami starting from 19 September, with other international airports such as Bogotá, Medellín, and Cali gradually reopening starting from 21 September. During the first stage of reactivation, only flights between Colombia and Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Guatemala, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, and the United States were operated, and starting from 30 September 2020 all passengers were required to present upon arrival a negative PCR test taken within 96 hours of the departure of the flight in order to enter the country.
The spread of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in early 2022 disrupted the operations of several airlines in the country, due to the cancellation of 138 flights during the first weekend of the year which affected 17,394 passengers. LATAM Colombia, which confirmed it had 18% of its crew and operational staff infected by Omicron, cancelled 53 flights scheduled between 8 and 16 January, whilst Avianca reported the early cancellation of several flights (mostly domestic) scheduled between 1 and 15 January which equalled to 4% of its total operation, and Viva Air Colombia rescheduled 4% of its flights.
Urban transit
From 20 March 2020, urban mass transit systems were running at only 10–15% of their usual occupancy. As the economy reactivated, and government guidelines ordered vehicle occupation to be capped at a 35% maximum, passengers increased but ridership remained low. The operation of Transmetro in Barranquilla was suspended on the morning of 2 May 2020 until further notice as passengers were not abiding by social distancing instructions within the system and vehicles were overcrowded. Transmetro resumed operation three days later with adjusted health protocols.
By 11 May, vehicles in Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, Bucaramanga, and Pereira were being used to about one-quarter of their usual occupancy (using pre-quarantine levels in early March as a reference point), while in Barranquilla they operated with less than one-fifth of their usual occupancy, and in Cartagena vehicles had only 6% of their usual occupancy. As a result, in May it was estimated that Colombian mass transit systems would lose COP 1.8 trillion (US$450 million) by the end of 2020.