This decision would have been made based on the guidelines presented by the Ministries of Public Health, Transportation and Public Works and the Chancellery.
Tulcan
The national Emergency Operations Committee (COE), in a resolution of this Friday, December 17, ordered the immediate and total reopening of the Rumichaca international bridge, on the Ecuadorian-Colombian border, facilitating mobility for both transport and pedestrians , under strict compliance with the biosafety measures implemented by both countries.
This decision would have been made based on the guidelines presented by the Ministries of Public Health, Transportation and Public Works and the Foreign Ministry of Ecuador, approved by the same national board.
This Friday the 17th, the presidents of both nations, Guillermo Lasso and Iván Duque, made an official statement from Cartagena, Colombia, to report on the decision that is implemented with the proper sanitary controls.
The information in the resolution indicates the immediate reopening of the Rumichaca border crossing for the entry and exit of vehicles of all modes of transport, as well as pedestrian flows, complying with all biosecurity measures and entry requirements established by the authority. national health.
The evaluation of the impacts generated by these resolutions will be analyzed 30 days after their application. One of the great concerns of the Carchense authorities is the health risks that the population may run and the possibility of the local hospital collapsing, since the care is universal (it benefits foreigners).
Hugo Ibujés, medical care director (e) of the Luis G. Dávila hospital in Tulcán, reported that at the moment this health home does not have patients with COVID-19 in the isolation area, while in the Intensive Care Unit there are two , who do not have the vaccination schedule.
Cristian Benavides, mayor of Tulcán, told EL UNIVERSO that there is disagreement due to these surprise changes in dates regarding the reopening of the binational viaduct announced from the Government and by the decisions that the national COE has been taking.
In Tulcán, a commercial agenda is underway with fairs and local events planned for the economic reactivation of the border, but the national COE does not seem to have understood that economically one thing is an open border and another is closed, added the mayor, who stated that the The pandemic persists and the omicron variant looms.
The municipality of Tulcán reported that this Saturday 18 the E-35 road that connects with Rumichaca will be closed to vehicular traffic, since several sporting activities are planned in advance and this resolution was not available.
In Ipiales, on the other hand, the news spread like wildfire and has been welcomed since they expect from this Saturday an avalanche of buyers from various cities in Ecuador, who will take advantage of the exchange rate differential ($ 1 is equivalent to 4015 Colombian pesos) to visit the southern Colombia.
The phases contemplated for the controlled and regulated reopening that was agreed by the leaders of Ecuador and Colombia would be left aside, they affirm in the commercial sector of the capital of Carche, where there is fear due to the surprise determination made by the COE, since it would affect them in sales.
Since this week, a pilot plan in phases had been launched, with the first passage of trucks with their drivers to Ipiales and Tulcán, respectively. (I)
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