Colombia will remove the use of face masks in some closed spaces in all cities and municipalities that exceed 70% of their population vaccinated against Covid-19, although they must be used in transportation, educational institutions and medical centers, President Iván Duque announced on Monday.
The measures to ease the restrictions that the country adopted to face the pandemic and encourage vaccination also include the elimination of the requirement of a license of vaccination to enter massive public and private events, the president specified.
“As of May 1, the use of face masks in closed spaces will be withdrawn, with the exception of health services, nursing homes, transportation and closed spaces within educational facilities,” Duque said in a statement. from the seat of the Presidency.
“These measures will be applied in the municipalities that have reached 70% of the double dose and that have reached at least 40% of the booster dose,” explained the president, who also extended the health emergency for two more months, until the end of June.
The South American country of 50 million inhabitants reached 83% of its population with at least one dose and is close to reaching 70% with a double dose, while 11.2 million people already have reinforcement, said Duque.
Travelers arriving at Colombia they must have their complete vaccination schedule or a negative PCR test for no more than 72 hours or for antigens no more than 48 hours.
The coronavirus pandemic has so far infected more than 6 million people in Colombiawhile it has left 139,778 dead, according to official statistics.
Colombiawhich like many other countries imposed restrictions on mobility and quarantines to face the pandemic, applies Sinovac, Janssen, Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines to its population, while offering booster doses to those over 18 years of age.
The use of face masks is mandatory indoors and outdoors in Venezuela and in closed spaces Chiliwhile the Brazilian cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro lifted indoor taxation last month.
Peru will lift the requirement for face masks outdoors as of May 1 for areas where 80% of people over the age of 60 have three doses.
In the schools of the city and province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, the use of masks in optional. But while in the city its use is still mandatory in closed places, in the province – the largest district in the country – its use is optional in work and recreational places.
In Mexico City, where it was never mandatory, the recommendation to wear face masks in open spaces was recently removed.
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