12:01 AM
In the middle of Easter, a time when travel in the country is increasing, the Ministry of Health decided to lift the requirement for face masks on public transport and mass transit stations, which means that as of this Wednesday it is no longer mandatory the use of face masks on buses, planes, airports and in terminals.
This restriction was lifted by the Minister of Health, Carolina Corcho, when she stamped her signature on resolution 555 of 2023, with which it was established that the mandatory use of the face mask in Colombia from now on will be limited only to the entrance to the institutions that provide healthcare. health services and nursing homes.
Right after the Government disclosed this new regulation, the Civil Aeronautics ruled to assume that this element of protection will no longer be required in terminals and airplanes, but reiterated the recommendation of its use for those most vulnerable to eventual contagion.
“The use of face masks in airport terminals and inside aircraft is suspended. From now on its use is recommended for people over 60 years of age with comorbidities or respiratory symptoms ”, detailed the Civil Aeronautics this Wednesday.
They will not require proof or license
In addition to being more lax with the use of masks, the health authorities also lifted other measures that protected the country against the coronavirus. And it is that Aerocivil also pointed out that the requirement for covid-19 tests was also suppressed, as well as the vaccination card against the virus for passengers entering the country.
“We are easing the measures for entering and leaving the country. In addition, we are eliminating the use of face masks in means of transport,” said Javier Ríos, coordinator of Epidemiological Surveillance of the Ministry of Health.
This surprising determination, which was made just at one of the times of the year when there is the most movement in air and land terminals, was supported by the Ministry of Health with global and national figures on vaccination and infections.
In this regard, the new regulations indicate that it was considered that there has been a 27% reduction in the cases of covid-19 infection reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) between February 27 and March 26, which which translates into the identification of 3.6 million cases worldwide. In addition, it was detailed that deaths fell by 39%, reaching 25,000 in that period.
It was also taken into account, according to the Ministry of Health, that in Colombia the incidence of the pandemic presented a progressive decrease during the year 2022. “While in the period from January 1 to December 31, 2021 there were 3.5 million confirmed cases , for the period equivalent to 2022, 972,057 cases were registered, corresponding to a decrease of 72.6%, ”says resolution 555 of 2023.
Another influential factor was the progress in the National Vaccination Plan against covid-13.- Regarding this, the resolution detailed that the country reached a coverage of 74.3% in the complete scheme in those over 3 years of age; 34.6% in the first booster for people over 12 years of age; and 6.3% of the second booster for the population over 18 years of age.
Despite the lifting of the aforementioned measures, the Ministry of Health recommended that the mask be used by people over 60 years of age, by those with comorbidities and by those with respiratory symptoms.