Moving to Colombia during COVID from USA

The latest I have heard is that all the hospitals are at full capacity, so I do not think now is a good time to go.

You have an authoritative link to back that up, from a Colombian newspaper?

Just talked to a friend there yesterday that told me that, also if you were tracking the death rates there you would already know that.

We haven't been, that's why we came here.  We're both interested in telecommuting from Colombia, so we'd like to hear what the situation on the ground is, preferably, from somebody who is living Colombia, right now...

nzlemon wrote:

I am strongly considering moving to Colombia for short-term basis - a few months.  Perhaps one day, I can move there long term....

I am looking at moving to Cartagena.

Cartagena is not as popular a destination for Expats as Medellín.  The main reasons are the CTG heat and humidity. 

Expect Cartagena highs in the high 80s F. year-round and humidity that is oppressive (weatherspark.com).  Medellín's temps are ten degrees cooler.  Evening and overnight temps are cool to comfortable in the Paisa capital.

OP, are you open to doing your short-term stay only in Cartagena?  Have you ever visited Cartagena?

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As for any rumors about hospitals being full in Colombia .. that's more likely true in Bogotá than in most other places.  It appears to be based on hearsay as far as what was posted so far on this thread.  "Tracking the death rates" is not a reliable indicator for an Expat to know whether hospital beds are in full use.

cccmedia

When Presidente Duque began re-opening the Colombia economy in April, it "collapsed" the health care systems in many of the largest cities, according to a report currently linked-to at the welcome page at www.colombiareports.com ....

However, the hospitals have since been able to expand the number of Intensive Care beds, enabling the system to accommodate covid-19 patients, according to this report.

cccmedia

Hello NZLemon, 

Colombia is beautiful and you will love it.
You should be aware the Colombians near to me appear not to be too concerned with current events.  Nobody on the coast here wears masks and nobody insists you wear one either. 
The police don't bother anybody and if you don't bother anybody either, they leave you alone. 
I'm an expat living on my beach-adjacent farm. I live comfortably with all the creature comforts and I only go into town maybe once a month to stock up on groceries and fuel. 
If you are happy to do this too, I can highly recommend the satellite suburbs of Santa Marta eg Playa Los Angeles, Minca, Guachaca etc.  These locations are quiet, idyllic, have good shopping and the people are very nice. The cost of living is lower than you have likely ever seen and your dollar goes much further here.

h2so4 wrote:

Colombia is beautiful and you will love it.
You should be aware the Colombians near to me appear not to be too concerned with current events.  Nobody on the coast here wears masks and nobody insists you wear one either. 
The police don't bother anybody and if you don't bother anybody either, they leave you alone.

Thank you for describing the 'laissez faire' attitude toward covid that is prevalent in your part of the coast of Colombia.  This is something that can inform prospective Expats considering a move or a visit to the coast.

It would be helpful if Expats in other popular parts of Colombia could describe the way people in their areas, such as Medellín, are responding to the covid health threat.  Are masks in use?  Are mask rules enforced?

cccmedia

Everybody in public is supposed to wear masks but as you quite rightly pointed out, none of the locals here bother anymore.
I was shocked when everybody on the bus from Bucaramanga to Santa Marta started taking their masks off before the bus left the station.  I asked the bus driver if we had to wear masks on the bus and he told me you only needed to wear the mask at the entrance until they took your temperature.
The guy on the window seat opposite mine was coughing and sneezing but he still took his mask off and nobody said anything. 
The same thing happened when I flew from Bogota to Santa Marta.  Everybody on the plane took off their masks and only put them back on again when the plane touched down. 
The people on these two trips didn't seem to care about Covid 19 and with one in every five tests  returning a positive result, we're all paying the price.

(1) https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/  : 
Colombia : 6,775,084 tests with 1,377,100 positive results.

Colombians are usually fairly docile.If you tell them to put their masks on (properly, covering their nose) they will usually do it. Not like in the US or Canada, where people will get in a fidst fight.

I have to admit it is a bit disconerting that people dont wear masks on domestic flights. Doesnt surprise me.

I know a pilot and his wife in Canada who got COVID on international log haul flights way back in April when cases were pretty low.

Supposedly International carrieres have HEPA systems with 6 filtered air changes and strict protocols (should you ever be lucky enough to get on aflight that hasnt been cancelled) but I am sure Colombian carriers dont have anything like that. Easy money , slack discipline and standards-the Colombian way.

I have been watching  the statistics quite closely, and where I am in Caldas it got quite high for 3 weeks...450 new cases a day (for a million population) with limited testing. Never closed down gyms, or restaurants, no Toque de Queda (curfew), no Ley seca (Alcohol prohibition) and they said the ICU capacity maxed out at 75%.

Valle de Cauca had figures of lower intensity per capita-less than 250 new cases a day per million population. But this is misleading, because supposedly the ICU are at 90% capacity and one day they had 28 deaths (alone) in Cali,  a city of 2.2 million.

The reason for the descrepancy inthe statistics could  be that there is even much  lower testing than the low Colombian average per capita in Cali , and people only get tested when they are really ,really sick. I know this is the case because I know several people who got the symptomns and were very sick, and stayed home, whereas in 1st world countries they would be hospitalized. Maybe one person in the extended family got tested , and were positive, the health people just told them to isolate, and didnt follow up..so 8 or 10  people had the virus-some to the point where they need hospitalization-but according to statistics , ony 1 had the virus.

Also these same people go out in publiic and work and mix only 4 days after testing or having bad symtoms when they are highly contagious...some without masks, poor fitting masks and no social distancing.The health officials dont follow up on people after positive testing, and there nevere ever has been "contact tracing".

Anyway in te case of Cali with 90% ICU occupancy they are taking the "Drastic" steps of having a curfew from 1 am to 5 am to keep the partiers in check-and a "ley Seca" -alcohol prohibition-Iam not sure if it is 24 hours a day  or just 1 am to 5am.
Also not sure if this applies to a of Cali or just some barrios. It is until December 16th at least.

As if these pathetic measures will help, even if they are enforced will make any difference..

Here is an article in El Tiempo-

Ley seca and Toque de Queda 1 am to 5am

If thatis really going to make a difference...LOL

https://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/cali/ … rus-553937

Below is another Article saying 37 deaths in Valle de Cauca and 734 new cases last Wedndsday  , with ICU occupancy at 90% the majority of these due to COVID

https://www.elpais.com.co/ultimo-minuto … embre.html

Note that 734 new daily cases for 4.4 milion people in Valle de Cauca isnt a lot, but the death rate is very high, indicating the actual infecton rate is way higher than the official case rate , and testing frequency is probably very low.