A video of Colombian police imitating African pallbearers from Ghana in a stay-at-home campaign is going viral on social media. Four officers dressed in jeans and white t-shirt dancing as pallbearers with a coffin and two policeman wearing masks teaching safe handwash are seen in the video.
"It is recommended for your health and that of your family that you try to stay at home. We are one, we are all," police say on a loudspeaker. The coffin dance by the officers was part of an awareness campaign on coronavirus, and security measures by Quibdo Police from the Colombian department of Choco. Dancing Ghana pallbearers became a meme sensation all around the world during the coronavirus lockdown.
The Colombian police were also in the news recently for involving residents of northern Bogota in dance and stretching exercises during the coronavirus lockdown. This was done to keep up the spirits of the people while they remained inside their houses due to the lockdown.
The police officers danced to encourage people and they followed police from their balconies and windows. Residents accompanied the officers in dance and Zumba as the personnel visited neighborhoods to cheer people up. An officer said it was a way of reminding people to stay at home.
President Ivan Duque imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25 to curb the spread of Covid-19. Colombia recorded 206 new cases and nine deaths on Friday taking the total number of cases to 3,439 with 153 deaths.
Health Minister Fernando Ruiz Gómez told the media that the country cannot be kept permanently closed. He added that ending the quarantine by the end of this month is also not an option. "A systematic, gradual and controlled opening of some sectors of the economy" is an intelligent way to deal with the lockdown, he said.
