More than 64,000 Companies, 785,000 Workers Registered for ‘Medellin Me Cuida’ Economic Restart

The Medellin Mayor’s Office revealed May 4 that to date, 64,366 companies have registered under the pioneering “Medellin Me Cuida” economic restart program for manufacturing and construction sectors here.

According to the Mayor, of those 64,366 companies, 54,810 have presented evidence of compliance with new biosafety protocols to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. So far, 33,702 companies have been certified in compliance, while another 8,915 are pending approval.

As a result of the “Medellin Me Cuida” registration and biosafety compliance programs, 785,260 employees are now authorized to venture out to and from work in the Medellin metro area (Valle de Aburra), including 528,695 inside Medellin itself, according to the Mayor.

“The Municipal administration will follow up on the biosafety protocols that were approved for the companies,” the Mayor added.

Authorization notices were sent by email to authorized companies, including text messages to those accredited to work.

“In Medellín we are pioneers [in company/worker registrations] because we not only require biosafety protocol from construction or manufacturing companies, but also from those that were already exempt in previous [Coronavirus quarantine-exemption] decrees,” added Medellin’s general secretary Esteban Restrepo Taborda.

“The municipalities of the metropolitan area were in charge of approving the companies domiciled in each locality, then linking the required information on the [Medellin Me Cuida] platforms and thus allowing the movement of workers anywhere in the region,” according to the Mayor’s Office.

To qualify for quarantine exemption, employers must enforce biosafety protocols such as the mandatory use of a face mask, minimum distancing of employees and the provision of elements for worker care such as glycerinated alcohol plus policies for self-care and isolation (such as telecommuting for office workers).

“The Mayor’s Office of Medellín, together with the authorities, will continue to adopt control and surveillance mechanisms to comply with protocols to preserve the life of citizens and also reactivate the economy for the well-being of all,” the Mayor added.