Colombia stops domestic flights to and from Leticia over COVID-19 strain concerns

Reuters
·1 min read
Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Bogota

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Domestic passenger flights to and from Leticia, the capital of Colombia's Amazonas province, will be suspended for a period of two weeks over concerns about a new coronavirus strain circulating in Brazil, the government said on Thursday.

Colombia on Wednesday said it will restrict flights to and from Brazil for a month over concerns about the new strain, and will increase monitoring of its border with Latin America's largest country.

However, after one case of the Brazilian coronavirus variant was reported in Brazil's Tabatinga - which sits opposite Leticia - domestic flights to and from Leticia will be suspended from Friday.

"Evidence suggests this strain has a higher transmissibility, which explains the impact in Brazil's Amazon area," Health Minister Fernando Ruiz said.

"Since the city of Leticia is a neighbor of Tabatinga, where one case has been reported, this decision has been taken as a precautionary measure."

Manaus, a city in Brazil's Amazonas state, which borders southern Colombia, is currently experiencing a brutal second wave of COVID-19 cases, driven by the new Brazilian variant.

Colombia has reported more than 2 million coronavirus infections, as well as 52,500 deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

(Reporting by Oliver Griffin, Editing by William Maclean)