Coronavirus hits Colombian prison population hard | The Bogotá Post

Critics say the government’s response to early warnings about the spread of COVID-19 in Colombian prisons was too little, too late.

Despite local and international warnings about the spread of coronavirus among vulnerable prison populations, Colombia has seen brutal outbreaks of the virus in at least nine of its detention facilities.

As parts of Colombia enter phase two of quarantine and the country begins to open up, the virus is still raging in its prisons. Massive overcrowding and inadequate sanitation have made it difficult to control the spread of COVID-19. These conditions are nothing new, but the virus is exacerbating them yet further. Colombian senator and human rights activist Iván Cepeda recently described the situation as a “humanitarian catastrophe” in an online discussion.

Read more at The Bogotá Post.