Colombia has confirmed the country's first death due to Covid-19 late on Saturday, March 21. The health minister Fernando Ruiz told the public the regretful news about the first death because of the coronavirus.
The health officials confirmed that a driver who transported tourists from Italy showed symptoms two days later and got infected with the Covid-19. The 58-year-old man also had untreated diabetics. The man was working in the city of Cartagena. He was first treated on March 13 and died three days later. The man also had untreated hypertension. He had taken two tests previously but it had shown negative results.
"Despite the laboratory results, it is conclusive to attribute the death to the new virus," the government statement said. Colombia has confirmed 210 cases so far.
Colombia might go into quarantine
The government in a step to reduce the spread of the disease has decided to step into quarantine from Tuesday, March 24. The country is set to stop any international flights from Monday, March 23. Colombia has also requested people above the age of 70 to not go out till the end of May at least.
The government has stopped the borders and will close schools and bars from Wednesday onwards. The domestic flights will also be stoped from March 25. The capital of the country Bogota held an obligatory drill on Friday which was set to last for four days. This is going to continue straight into the national quarantine.
The decision by the Colombian President Ivan Duque is supported by the people because this could avoid a national catastrophe. But, this could also mean a lot of economic implications for the country. So far there have been more than 300,000 cases worldwide with over 13,000 deaths due to the novel virus.
