COVID-19 Gets Crazier, Colombia Records 100,582 Deaths

JAKARTA - Colombia's Ministry of Health announced the death toll from COVID-19 in the country had crossed 100,000 on Monday, amid warnings of shortages of medicine and oxygen in hospitals due to the third wave of infections.

The country of 50 million people has reported more than 3,968,405 million cases of coronavirus infection, as well as 100,582 deaths with a total of 3,685,947 recovered patients, as reported by Worldometers, Tuesday, June 22.

Colombia has recorded record numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths in recent weeks, with some medical officials warning certain medical supplies are running low.

Intensive care units (ICUs) in major cities are operating at near full capacity, according to information published by local health authorities in the capital Bogota, as well as in Medellin and Cali, Colombia's second and third largest cities, respectively.

"We're starting to see a shortage of certain resources everywhere," Cesar Enciso, medical coordinator for intensive care at the University of San Jose Children's Hospital in Bogota, told Reuters, citing a lack of sedatives and oxygen supplies.

"If the situation continues with this number of cases every day, resources will be exhausted," he added.

The government blamed weeks of anti-government protests for extending the third peak, which began after Easter. The country hit a record 30,000 daily cases reported earlier this month. Meanwhile, the addition of 648 deaths on Monday was a record high.

"Crowds are the main breeding ground for this disease to spread exponentially," President Ivan Duque said at a ceremony to mark Colombia's COVID-19 death.

Despite the peak, the South American nation has lifted many of the restrictions imposed in March last year to contain the coronavirus, in a bid to boost the economy and amid widespread frustration with social distancing measures.

To note, Colombia has administered more than 14.9 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, of which more than 4.7 million are second doses. Colombia hopes to vaccinate around 35 million people or about 70 percent of its population by the end of this year.