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Colombia: Justice Orders Relaxation of Elderly Containment

2020-07-04T03:10:53.892Z


Colombian justice has ordered the right-wing President Ivan Duque to ease the strict confinement imposed on people over the age of 70, deemed more vulnerable to the new coronavirus. A court in Bogota ordered the head of state to " temporarily not apply " two measures decreed in the context of the health emergency, which force seniors to remain confined until August 31, a month and a half longer th...


Colombian justice has ordered the right-wing President Ivan Duque to ease the strict confinement imposed on people over the age of 70, deemed more vulnerable to the new coronavirus. A court in Bogota ordered the head of state to " temporarily not apply " two measures decreed in the context of the health emergency, which force seniors to remain confined until August 31, a month and a half longer than the rest of the population, and only allow them to go out three times an hour a week to exercise.

Read also: Latin America, the new epicenter of Covid-19, links death records

This decision, dated Thursday but disclosed on Friday, recognizes " the fundamental rights to equality, to the free development of personality and to the freedom of movement of applicants and adults over the age of 70 ". Seniors will now be subject to the same containment measures, increasingly lighter, than the rest of the population, according to the court.

Justice had been seized in summary procedure by a group of elders, requesting the lifting of the strict confinement of the over 70s until the Constitutional Court ruled on its validity. In its decision, the court “ reaffirms our right to equality (...) The government cannot discriminate against a group of people on the basis of their age or for any other reason, ” said one of the complainants, l former minister Rudolf Hommes, 76 years old.

People over 70, 2.6 million of the country's 50 million people, have been confined since March 18, when the government declared an emergency due to the covid-19 pandemic, including the first case was detected in Colombia on March 6. Containment had been declared for the whole country on March 25 and extended several times, the last until July 15. If it has softened a bit since the end of April, that of seniors had been extended until August 31 inclusive.

President Duque has argued that the cases and deaths of the new coronavirus are lower than those of other Latin American countries thanks to the confinement of the over 70s. But experts consider that the rate of seniors affected by the pandemic corresponds to their proportion of the population. Colombia has exceeded 106,000 confirmed cases and 3,600 deaths from Covid-19.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-07-04

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