Semana Santa restrictions – Easter in Bogotá

Claudia López introduces measures aimed at minimizing an Easter COVID outbreak.

Semana Santa restrictions: the path up Monserrate will be closed from March 28 til April 5

If you’re planning for Semana Santa, be ready for similar restrictions to those we saw at Christmas

As before, everything hinges on emergency room (ICU) occupancy, which is currently about 65% in the capital. A night curfew will begin this weekend, and stricter measures will be introduced if hospital occupancy rises further.

Mayor Claudia López announced today that the city would follow government instructions. As such, cities like Bogotá with ICU occupancy of 50% to 70%

  • Curfew from midnight to 5am
  • Measures apply from March 26 – 29 and March 31 to April 5

If occupancy goes above 70%, the curfew would begin two hours earlier and pico y cédula will be back. You’ll only be able to go to shops, supermarkets and banks every other day.

The path to Monserrate will be closed from March 28 to April 5. And any Easter processions or crowded religious gatherings will not be allowed. The plan is to promote socially distanced religious celebrations, either on television, online or through spaced out schedules. 

If you want to leave the city, there’s nothing to stop you. So far, there are no bans on national or international travel. Though it’s worth checking your destination country – the UK, for example, has just banned all unnecessary international travel.

Brendan Corrigan from Wrong Way Corrigan and GetIngles will be discussing the rules Easter celebrations with our deputy editor Oli Pritchard at 9pm on Facebook Live.

Emma Newbery: Emma co-founded The Bogotá Post in 2014 with a mission to provide reliable information about Colombia for an international audience. She is passionate about providing readers with information they can trust on topics that matter. In addition to her work with The Bogotá Post, Emma writes about personal finance and investing for The Ascent. Emma started her career in journalism at UKiNvest 25 years ago, before taking a side road into the world of Olympic bidding.

View Comments (2)

  • If the reason for the continued lockdowns is really a shortage of ICU beds, then here is a solution;

    Use the stadiums in Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla and Bucaramanga - and construct temporary Covid hospitals. The military has done this for generations - they are called MASH units. 10k beds in Bogota, 5k in the other cities. The US has 40,000 ventilators sitting in a warehouse. I'm sure CO could borrow, say 2,000 of them. Last year was a record year for cocaine production. If the narco's can produce, package and ship tons of cocaine - from jungle labs. I'm quite sure CO could get it done. Get off your collective, rich asses and get it the fuck done!