A quiet, still morning in Medellin, Colombia, April 2020.
A lone voice rings out over the deafening silence of a Monday morning in Medellin, Colombia "Aguacate!" yells the fruit seller, using the Spanish word for avocado. But unlike a typical day, nobody comes out into the street to buy his fresh wares.
And so goes the new normal for the city of Medellin, which sits in an Andean mountain valley containing more than 3.7 million people – since a mandatory national quarantine started on Tuesday, March 24.
In the seven years I've lived in Medellin, during the day the parrots and trees have always been drowned out by traffic and street vendors – and at night, the noise of bugs and bats have always been swamped by the ever-present beat of salsa music and reggaeton.
The first case of COVID-19 was recorded in Colombia on the 8th of March, the same day as International Women’s Day, which is usually celebrated in Colombia with flowers and parties.
A little over a week later, Colombian President Ivan Duque sealed the land, sea and river borders of the northern-most country in South America. Things snowballed quickly and just over a week after the borders closed, the national quarantine began.
The measures implemented in late March will now be familiar to those in the developed world: only one person per family is allowed out at a time, only to buy essential groceries and medicines. In some parts of the country –now including Medellin– you can only go out on certain days, determined by the last number of your national ID card.
MEDELLIN, COLOMBIA - APRIL 06: A police officer wearing protective clothing disinfects Botero's ... [+]
It is radical how quickly life has changed. The salsa bar with a live band that heaved every Tuesday night with tourists and salsa aficionados is now shut. The art museums, planetarium and botanic gardens are closed.
“Even the greeting of a hug and kiss to all but the most formal of acquaintances is now gone.”
There is only one touch of normality: the clean and punctual metro system is even more-so, as those who have to go to work – but can’t afford a taxi – try to maintain social distance as best they can.
For the vast majority of working class Colombians – and the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants in the country – working from home is not an option. For those with an empanada stand, fruit cart or other informal work, if they don’t leave the house, they don’t eat.
Lorena (L) and Valentina Negrette excercise during a private body functional class as outdoors ... [+]
But for some who can stay at home, it might be just as dangerous as going out. Colombia has one of the highest rates of femicide and gendered violence in the world. Authorities in the southern Colombian city of Cali have attributed the deaths of two women killed on March 31 to domestic violence during the lockdown.
As of the end of the second week of April, Medellin and its surrounding department (state) of Antioquia reported its first confirmed COVID-19 fatality. However, with 239 cases, the region is still reporting fewer cases per head of population than most parts of Colombia. The local government also reacted fast, putting restrictions in place days before the national measures came into force.
As of the end of the second week of April, the whole country had 2,223 active cases, 174 confirmed recovered patients and 69 deaths, out of a total population of around 50 million people.
Despite open tensions between the national and local/regional governments Colombia’s government responded reasonably quickly and well – if only by the low bar set by the biggest countries in the region. Brazil, led by outright Coronavirus skeptic President Jair Bolsanaro has 17,250 active cases and 974 fatalities while Mexico has 2,614 confirmed cases and 194 fatalities.
As the fruit seller moves on, the silence returns, interrupted only by birdsong and the occasional passing train. With the national quarantine extended to 11.59 pm on Monday April 26 and the borders sealed until 30 of May, the silence is set to go on for a while longer yet.
