​07/01/2020

Press Release No. 423, 2020

Bogotá, July 1, 2020. The Minister of Health and Social Protection, Fernando Ruiz, this Wednesday spoke of the strategies developed in the country, as well as the early decision-making that allowed expanding the installed capacity in the national territory and reducing the transmission of covid-19 among the population.

Ruiz began his remarks by ensuring that the Ministry of Health declared the Health Emergency due to covid-19 in a timely manner and with this, allowed the development of strategies for the adaptation of the country to care for patients. These were expressed in the framework of the virtual seminar 'Beyond the impact: crisis management and recovery,' organized by ANIF.

"In terms of decision-making capacity, we have continuous monitoring of the epidemic based on the systems collected by the National Institute of Health and the Ministry of Health through the information provided by SIVIGILA, and we do the analysis city by city, municipality by municipality, on how the epidemic is progressing at the national level," said Minister Ruiz.

That information, added the minister, feeds different bodies in which decisions are made in particular situations. The one with the highest level of analysis is the Strategic Committee, which meets twice a week and the current outbreaks are evaluated and subsequently, based on that, makes recommendations for the second body, which is the Advisory Committee, made up of national and international scholars, infectious medicine doctors, epidemiologists, economists and other professions that accompany and give their final recommendation for decision making. Then the recommendation is sent to the Ministry of the Interior, which issues the respective decrees to make recommendations to each territory.

At the Advisory Committee meetings, he noted, the mayor of each city makes a presentation, setting out how the epidemic is progressing in his or her region. Subsequently, the next body are the Unified Command Posts, where different institutions of the national and territorial order meet.

Strategies

The head of the health ministry indicated that the first strategy we formulated in the epidemic was compulsory preventive isolation, which still continues with people over 70 and the school population. "However, there has been a de-escalation towards a flexible isolation strategy with gradual de-escalation. That is, opening the economy, social circulation, spaces, gradually moving from containing infections and having time to build capacities in the health system for some healthcare objectives such as reducing the impact on health and the speed of infection," he said.

"We are now isolating the virus within people. In other words, seeking that people who are infected not transmit the virus and that we have the possibility of isolating it as quickly as possible to mitigate the social and economic effects of confinement," said Ruiz.

The minister also spoke of the protocols designed for the gradual opening, highlighting that all are issued by the Ministry of Health for the welfare of the population. "This implies a new form and functionality at a social level in each opening," he added.

"It is very important to bear in mind that the gradual opening does not only depend on health but also on how the different sectors unfold," he said.

Quarantines

"At first the possibility of having several quarantines was raised. We are betting on not having to, as Chile or Italy had to. That is where we are risking everything, in the education of the community, with the permanent use of masks, following protocol, physical distancing. We know that it is complicated and difficult," said the minister.

He added that Colombia was one of the first countries in Latin America to implement a complete package of measures for the containment and subsequent mitigation of covid-19. "It was done 14 days after the first case, as well as the measures to protect the population aged 70 years and older."

What the new strategy involves, he said, is a territorial approach and local actions. "Gradual de-escalation, territorial control of outbreaks, this because we, as health institutions, permanently seek to reach these areas, isolate them and formulate the necessary strategies for their control," said Ruiz.

Epidemiological surveillance now has systematic tracking based on telephone monitoring and identification of expanded contacts. "We had been identifying two contacts per case and the objective is to reach 10."

He also highlighted the running of tests and comprehensive management between territorial authorities and EPSs, praising home medicine for creating the basis for a comprehensive model of care in the national territory.

"We will maintain closure of land, sea and air borders with gradual de-escalation. The Day and Life Centers will remain closed, and the training places will have some openings, as well as national flights," he added, noting that it is important to continue maintaining physical distance, work at home and having self-care measures such as hand washing and correct use of mask," he added.

Ruiz also affirmed that the isolation in our country was successful, which allowed to reduce the contagion and increase the installed capacity of the ICU almost two-fold. "Positive testing is 16% and this is not necessarily negative. We have implemented the tests to asymptomatic people and that leads us to this result," he said, explaining that we are in a second phase and attentive to its evolution.