'Close to collapse' - Bogota doctors call for city-wide quarantine

in Bogota, doctors are calling for a return to a strict city-wide quarantine to slow coronavirus infections in Colombia's capital, warning that medical services are close to collapsing, a leading medic said Thursday. The Andean country has reported over 165,000 cases of coronavirus and around 6,000 deaths. Bogota accounts for more than a third of the country's total cases and over 20% of its deaths.

Colombian President declared an ongoing quarantine to slow the spread of coronavirus in late March. While the quarantine is expected to lift on Aug. 1, certain sectors of the economy and parts of the country have started to reopen. Bogota's intensive care units (ICUs) were at just under 90% capacity as of Wednesday evening. Mayor visited a public hospital on Thursday and said between 20 and 30 new ventilators will come online daily to increase ICU capacity. The concern with medics is that if hospitals reach full capacity, it could spell disaster.