Medellin Mayor Announces Shopping-Center Reopenings Starting June 1

Medellin Mayor Daniel Quintero announced May 20 that shopping centers in Medellin gradually will reopen starting June 1 – right on the heels of President Ivan Duque’s May 19 announcement about Colombia’s transition from Covid-19 “national quarantine” to more city-specific “health emergency” status from June 1 to August 31.

“The openings will be staggered according to the level of risk that each establishment may have,” according to Mayor’s official press announcement.

“In order to continue with the economic reactivation, and to avoid the loss of thousands of jobs in the city, Medellín Mayor Daniel Quintero Calle confirmed that from June 1 shopping centers will reopen when the period of ‘smart isolation’ begins as announced by President Iván Duque,” according to the Mayor’s office.

“For this process, a platform will be enabled with which a gradual and safe reopening will be coordinated, guaranteeing an adequate capacity inside the shopping centers and allowing a rapid tracking of [potentially] affected persons and their possible contacts in the event of a contagion.”

“For some time we have been preparing a platform thinking about the arrival of this alternative,” Mayor Quintero added.

“We will have a platform that allows a safe reopening of shopping centers. We have differentiated them by risk levels and based on this risk level, they will gradually enter into operation.”

On another front, Quintero announced the start-up of the “Medellín Me Cuida Hogares” home-care strategy, “with which the Mayor’s Office will bring technology to more than 100,000 homes to reduce the chances that at-risk populations or Covid-19 patients may require [hospital] intensive care,” according to the press bulletin.

The Mayor explained that new health-care kits will be delivered to at-risk or already-infected homes. The kits will include a pulse oximeter — which measures the level of oxygen in the blood– a digital thermometer and additional measures such as antibacterial gels and face masks.

Meanwhile, the mayor announced that the production of relatively low-cost, Medellin-pioneered mechanical ventilators has already started with a first batch of 100. These first units will be employed in clinical trials and will be available for broader use “in case they are required” in future.