Going beyond an initial plan for “pico y cedula” shopping restrictions, late-night curfews and liquor-sales bans from now through this coming weekend, Medellin and Antioquia governments have instead decided to declare a total quarantine from 7 pm Friday January 8 until 5 am Tuesday January 12.

Medellin Mayor Daniel Quintero and Antioquia Acting Governor Luis Fernando Suarez revealed the new, stricter measure following consultations with Colombia’s Health Ministry earlier today (January 7).

“Following the guidelines of the national government and prior conversation with mayors of the metropolitan area, whose intensive care unit (ICU) occupation is 87% and the Oriente (east of Medellin) has 99% occupation, we take the following measures in defense of life:

“In these two subregions [metro Medellin and Oriente] a curfew is decreed continuous from 7 pm Friday, January 8, until 5 am Tuesday, January 12. In the other sub-regions of the department, the curfew will continue to apply every day from 10 pm until 5 am Tuesday, January 12.”

A ban on liquor sales likewise is imposed from 10 pm Friday 8 to 11:59 pm Monday, January 11, while "pico-y-cedula" shopping restrictions continue throughout Antioquia department until Monday, January 11, he added.

“In accordance with the guidelines of the national government, mobility will be maintained on the department’s roads for the movement of travelers to the different municipalities or to other destinations outside the department. Likewise, home-deliveries and trips for reasons of urgency or verifiable work [are allowed]," Suarez said.

The stricter measures aim to put a lid on a surge of Covid-19 infections -- seen likely to get even worse following the upcoming “Puente de Reyes” three-day weekend here, Mayor Quintero explained.

The new actions follow Health Minister Fernando Ruiz’s announcement last night (January 6) that all Colombian municipalities and territories with intensive care unit (ICU) occupancy rates above 80% should impose quarantines this weekend. That 80% figure would include Medellin and most metro-area towns and cities.

PCR Test Mandate for International Passengers

On a related front, Minister Ruiz clarified that while the recent reimposition of the PCR test mandate for international air-passenger arrivals to Colombia takes effect immediately, passengers that can’t practically get a PCR test in their origin countries right now instead will have to undergo 14-days quarantine upon arrival in Colombia, or else -- starting January 12 -- take the PCR test here.

The international traveler “can state at the [airline check-in counter] at the time he is going to register to take the flight [to Colombia] the impossibility of taking the test [at origin] and that he is going to take it in Colombia. No airline can prevent the person from boarding the plane,” unless the person exhibits Covid-19 symptoms such as fever and respiratory problems, he said.

Ruiz added that when the passenger arrives here, Migration Colombia is not required to demand proof of passing a PCR test at origin. However, the passenger must agree to take the test in Colombia or stay in preventive isolation for 14 days, he said.