Are Medellín and Antioquia Winning the Coronavirus Battle? Medellin Guru
Are Medellin and Antioquia winning the coronavirus battle? Over the past eight days an average of only four coronavirus cases per day were reported in Antioquia.
Medellín and Antioquia appear to be doing a good job of containing the growth of coronavirus in second largest city in Colombia and in the department of Antioquia in Colombia where Medellín is located.
Medellín has fewer coronavirus cases than several other cities in Colombia on May 7:
- Bogotá – 3,599 cases
- Cali – 974 cases
- Villavicencio – 733 cases
- Leticia – 418 cases
- Cartagena – 404 cases
- Barranquilla – 342 cases
- Medellín – 297 cases
Also, Antioquia has fewer coronavirus cases than in the departments of Bogotá DC, Valle de Cauca, Atlántico and Meta. Furthermore, Antioquia has been experiencing a decrease in daily coronavirus cases over the past several weeks.
Coronavirus Cases in Antioquia
Colombia Ministerio de Salud (Ministry of Health) reported the number of coronavirus cases in Antioquia on May 7 at 4:30 pm – a total of 460 cases with 6 deaths.
The first coronavirus case in Antioquia was on March 9, 2020 and by May 7 at 4:30 pm, the number of cases had grown to 460.
The following chart shows the number of new coronavirus cases in Antioquia daily over a period of over one month:
New coronavirus case counts in Antioquia daily, data source: Instituto Nacional de Salud, 5/7 at 4:30 pm
The peak of new coronavirus cases in Antioquia was reached on April 8 with 37 cases. However, this daily chart has ups and downs from day to day. So, to see a trend over the past month it is better to look at a rolling 7-day average of new coronavirus cases:
7-day rolling average of new daily coronavirus cases in Antioquia, data source: Instituto Nacional de Salud, 5/7 at 4:30 pm
This rolling 7-day average chart shows that on average, the number of new cases started to drop in Antioquia after reaching a peak and dropped to where it has been averaging about four new cases per day.
The following table shows the status of coronavirus cases in Antioquia on May 7 according to Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS):
Status of coronavirus cases in Antioquia on May 7, Source: Instituto Nacional de Salud (INS), bold are municipalities in the Aburrá Valley
On May 7, a total of 29 municipalities in Antioquia had coronavirus cases reported according to INS but only 19 of these municipalities still had an active case (isolated at home, in the hospital or in an ICU room).
A total of 416 of cases (90 percent) in Antioquia on May 7 were located in Medellín and the Aburrá Valley. Also, in Antioquia on May 7, 232 cases were active. And only 21 cases in Antioquia were in the hospital or ICU with 20 of those in the Aburrá Valley.
According to DANE, 58.4 percent of Antioquia residents are concentrated in the Aburrá Valley, which contains only about 2 percent of the department geographically. In the Aburá Valley, and average of 3,341 people live per square kilometer.
The rest of Antioquia is more sparsely populated and averages only 44 people per square kilometer, which helps to explain why cases in Antioquia are mostly concentrated in the Aburrá Valley.
Are Medellín and Antioquia Winning the Coronavirus Battle?
The national quarantine in Colombia appears to be more effective in Medellín and Antioquia than in many other cities and regions in Colombia. Over the past eight days an average of only 4 coronavirus cases per day were reported in Antioquia. Antioquia has now been under quarantine for 50 days.
Bogotá is still experiencing an increase in cases and averaged 129 cases per day in the past eight days. Also, Cali has been experiencing an increase in cases and averaged 33 cases per day in the past eight days.
One differentiator is Pico y Cedula that restricts shopping in the populous Aburrá Valley based on the last digit of your ID. Bogotá doesn't use Pico y Cedula and instead uses a different scheme that is based on gender.
A few other large cities in Colombia including Cali, Cartagena and Barranquilla have Pico y Cedula but reportedly started their schemes later than in the Aburrá Valley, which started using Pico y Cedula in early April.
Jardín, one of over 100 municipalities in Antioquia without a single coronavirus case
COVID-19 Free Municipalities in Antioquia
Reportedly there are over 100 municipalities in Antioquia without a single coronavirus case. So, Antioquia appears to be successful in containing the spread of coronavirus throughout the department.
Governor Aníbal Gaviria of Antioquia said that the containment of the spread of the virus in Antioquia is an asset that should be capitalized on with economic reactivation. Governor Gaviria said:
We ask the National Government that Antioquia be a pilot so that in these municipalities there is a greater release, even by sub-regions, accompanied by health checkpoints and all the care and protocols so that the virus never arrives.
A total of 22 health control posts have been implemented in Antioquia for the main entry routes to the sub-regions and the department, with the aim of avoiding contagion from other areas of the country or from the Aburrá Valley.
However, in the case of the Aburrá Valley, Gaviria stated that the situation is more complex "due to the amount of population and the number of infections, which means the controls have to be much more rigorous, between municipalities."
For this reason, the Governor emphasized that economic activation should be flexible within each municipality but very demanding at the borders of each territory.
President Iván Duque announced on Tuesday that municipalities in which no positive COVID-19 cases have been detected may gradually start productive activities again, as long as the mayor sends the request to the Ministry of the Interior, accompanied by the biosafety protocol that will govern in its territory.
COVID-19 Testing in Antioquia
Currently according to INS there are 13 labs in Antioquia conducting COVID-19 tests with another lab awaiting approval to perform tests.
INS reported a few days ago that it had done 18,450 tests in Antioquia but INS appears to have stopped publishing a breakout of tests by department. Antioquia was second in terms of COVID-19 testing in Colombia after Bogotá, which had 39,797 tests.
Jericó: another pueblo in Antioquia without a single coronavirus case
Medellin Guru's Coronavirus Series
Medellin Guru has a series of articles about the coronavirus pandemic and the impacts in Colombia: Also, these articles are being kept up-to-date, as this is a fast-moving topic:
The Bottom Line: Is Medellín and Antioquia Winning the Coronavirus Battle?
Medellín and Antioquia may be winning the coronavirus battle. The number of cases in Antioquia has dropped to an average of only 4 cases per day over the past eight days. Also, there are over 100 municipalities in Antioquia without a single coronavirus case.
Medellín and Antioquia never experienced a big cluster of cases and the quarantine and other measures have contained the virus and appear to be keeping COVID-19 at bay.
The bottom line is the measures that Colombia and Antioquia have put in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic have resulted in new coronavirus cases starting to drop in Antioquia. In addition, the spread of coronavirus throughout Antioquia was prevented with over 100 municipalities without a case.
In COVID-19 free municipalities in Antioquia it is likely that many closed places will be permitted to open starting as early as next week, with some exceptions such as billiards, casinos and discotheques, churches, parks, gyms and sporting events.
Watch carefully the number of new cases reported in Colombia daily. Each day we update our popular article about coronavirus in Colombia with the current coronavirus statistics for Colombia, Antioquia and Medellín. Will new cases remain low or drop lower in Medellín and Antioquia or will they increase?
Also, watch the COVID-19 testing numbers in Colombia. We update our popular article about COVID-19 testing in Colombia daily. If COVID-19 testing numbers continue to increase, this is a very good thing, as this will help identify more of those who are infected in Colombia.
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