Hypertensive, diabetics and people with obesity will have to enter mandatory confinement starting this Monday, July 27. This was the decision with which the mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, surprised the people of Bogotá on Sunday night. The reason: 2 out of 3 people with these comorbidities have died from covid-19.
Many of these patients end up in intensive care units (ICUs) and half die from not taking their treatments judiciously. “These people’s employers must understand that these people must work from home,” said López.
Likewise, the relatives of the patients who tested positive for covid-19 should protect themselves at home for 14 days. “It has been proven that they always end up getting infected. This way they can be better monitored from the Ministry of Health ”.
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They should enter the Bogotá Caregiver page and enter all their data, as well as the information of the people with whom they entered quarantine to be able to contact them. “This way we can help this vulnerable population.”
Carlos Álvarez, former president of the Colombian Association of Infectious Diseases, said that, rather than increasing intensive care units (ICU), It is important to locate the positive cases and that, regardless of whether the members of the family nucleus are tested, all must go into isolation because its contagion is practically inevitable.
Regarding this issue, López criticized the work of the health care companies (EPS) and affirmed that they are not fulfilling their task of making an epidemiological fence and, for this reason, now this work will focus on the Ministry of Health. .
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Oswaldo Borráez, president of the Bogotá Medical Ethics Tribunal, stated that the medical union is ready and attentive to face the peak of the pandemic. “But we need the help of citizens. That they continue washing their hands, wearing masks and isolating themselves. It is the only way to avoid infections ”.
For his part, Leonardo García, president of the Medical College of Cundinamarca and Bogotá, pointed out that the peak of the pandemic is not won in the ICU, but in homes and territories. “To reduce the number of people in hospitalization, we have to better control people with chronic diseases. That is a responsibility of the EPS. Their commitment in this pandemic must be higher. “
The mayor said that she will ask the EPS to give the necessary instruments to diabetics and hypertensive patients so that they can monitor and measure the state of their disease.
Finally, Herman Esguerra, president of the National Academy of Medicine, said that when the virus that causes covid-19 reaches the body of a sick person, they are more likely to die. “The same goes for those over 60 years. Care has been essential to avoid swelling the death toll in Bogotá ”.
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Álvarez, for his part, pointed out that citizens must know that If a person has a fever of more than 38 degrees for more than three days and drowns, they must attend and be attended by their EPS.
More than 450,000 tests have already been carried out in Bogotá, but now the second test will not be as decisive as the fact that the entire family and close circle of the infected patient enter total isolation. “That is going to be true intelligent isolation,” said Lopez.
Four out of ten tests are positive
Bogotá is experiencing a critical moment of the pandemic. There are already 84,213 cases of covid-19 and the occupation in the ICU reaches 91.5 percent at the court on July 25.
33.7 percent of the reported cases of covid-19 in Colombia are in Bogotá.
The Kennedy town records 16.2 percent of cases; Go up, 11.5 percent; Bosa, 9.7 percent; Ciudad Bolívar, 8.7 percent, and Engativá, 8 percent. These five localities contribute 54.2 percent of the confirmed cases in the District. 2,115 people have died in Bogotá.
When comparing Bogotá with the main cities of Latin America, New York and Madrid, we occupy the 9th place, with 10,483 cases per 1,000,000 inhabitants.
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This Monday ended the first sectorized quarantine for Ciudad Bolívar, Santa Fe, Usme, Chapinero, Los Mártires, San Cristóbal, Rafael Uribe Uribe and Tunjuelito, which began on July 13. And although the share in the towns was positive, the balance with the results will not be immediately known. This Tuesday the isolation day begins in the towns of Bosa, Antonio Nariño, Kennedy, Puente Aranda and Fontibón.
For now, Mayor Claudia López said she will not need medical personnel from other countries, as announced by the Medellín government. “We have expert medical personnel to attend to the emergency. We need, yes, more commitment from EPS ”.
As for Cundinamarca, the situation in Mosquera is a concern. There, quarantine and mandatory isolation were decreed in the eastern sector until August 6. 15,000 residents must abide by the measure.
In this municipality there are 513 confirmed cases, 268 active, 213 recovered, 14 deceased, 3 in the ICU, 29 in hospitalization and 235 at home.
CAROL MALAVER
DEPUTY EDITOR OF BOGOTÁ
Write to us at [email protected]
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