Colombia adds 5,000 new Covid-19 cases as the government extends the lockdown

Colombia surpassed 150,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Sunday after its health minister reported 5,083 new infections over the previous 24 hours.

The Colombia health ministry is blaming violation of social distancing rules for a spike in new Covid-19 cases.

The country’s total number of cases is now 150,445 – the fifth highest number in Latin America after Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Peru.

The health minister also reported 188 new deaths on Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 5,307.

On Friday, officials implemented new lockdown measures based on geographic zones in Bogota, where 49,644 cases have been reported, most of them within the past three weeks.

Other regions of the country reporting high numbers of cases are Atlántico, 32,635; Valle del Cauca, 14,207; Bolívar, 11,913; Antioquia, 8,744; Nariño, 4,457; Cundinamarca, 4,052; Magdalena, 2,785; Sucre, 2,419; Amazonas, 2,411; and Chocó, 2,177.

Over the weekend, the government announced the strengthening and extension of the nationwide quarantine through August 1. Air travel, both international and domestic, has been suspended through August 31.

In late April, President Iván Duque boasted that “smart planning” would keep Colombia from becoming “another Ecuador,” which was then recording a high number of deaths in Guayaquil. On Sunday, Ecuador reported 661 new cases of the coronavirus and a cumulative total of 67,870.