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News > Colombia

Colombia: Amazon Indigenous Communities Vulnerable To COVID-19

  • A family goes canoeing down the river in the Chorrera del Amazonas, Putumayo, Colombia. July 2020.

    A family goes canoeing down the river in the Chorrera del Amazonas, Putumayo, Colombia. July 2020. | Photo: Twitter/ @annniux

Published 14 July 2020
Opinion

According to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, Amazon department health authorities registered over 2,500 COVID-19 cases and 107 deceases.

Colombia’s Mais Movement Spokesperson Martha Peralta Epieyu Tuesday denounced the precarious health situation of Colombian Amazon Indigenous communities.

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“Attention, the situation in the Amazon is worsening. The 3,800 inhabitants who have established their settlements along the Igara-Paraná River in La Chorrera, are in crisis because of COVID-19,” Peralta tweeted.

The unique health center in La Chorrera municipality has only one room for admissions and delicate patients. The power service only works three hours per day.

The Muinane, the Uitoto, the Bora, and the Ocaina people are most vulnerable to the virus, given the scarcity of accurate testing and diagnosis. 

“We call on the National Government; the existence of four ancestral cultures is at stake. Traditions, languages, songs, customs, and century-old knowledge could disappear if these communities lose key members to transfer their knowledge,” Peralta added.

Currently, La Chorrera's health care center remits severe patients to Bogota hospitals, which are on the edge of collapse, given the high rate of beds occupancy.

According to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, Amazonas department health authorities registered over 2,500 COVID-19 cases and 107 deceases.

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