Medellin Reports

[Zeos1]

Damn dude, I don't know what kind of licensed medical professional you were, but if you were to get sick, I mean like ICU level sick, costs aside, there is no better place to be than in the US. Heck most 3rd world hospitals haven't even heard of far less have ecmo treatment for example, but like I said, to each their own, rationalization is a powerful thing, especially when youthful warm pussy is calling. 😂.

I don't think the better hospitals in Colombia are anything close to third world. They are rated very highly and I doubt there are any treatments that are "unknown" to them. Many international ratings put the Colombian health care system far ahead of the USA. Now. Before you get riled up. I believe that if you have great insurance or a lot of money there is some of the best health care in the world available in the USA. But, not available to everyone I've been told. Anyway, my main point is that the standards for doctors and medical procedures is very high in Colombia. The hospitals may not be as luxurious or sometimes as comfortable, but the skill levels and access to medical knowledge is there. But I don't want to have Covid there. Or anywhere for that matter.

[SJobs]

I forgot to mention, the Hooters GM said they're opening Monday! Patrick's was thinking a much longer timeline before their re-opening. I was told the Hooters building was a former Escobar house. Maybe the owners have some connections that a gringo would not, or maybe Hooters just has the ability to throw more money at a solution. Regardless, I can almost guarantee I'll be sipping a cold Aguila and oogling the talent, in the very near future!

Nice! This is good news. Will the hooter staff be required to wear a mask? It would be a bummer to not be able to see those high quality talents' face.

[Surfer500]

It's not too good to be true. It's aimed at restarting tourism and the focus / activities of the traveler would be for tourism. For this to work, I cannot imagine it being a 14-day quarantine. A few major US airports have been doing testing for outbound Intl departures, they might require a negative test to avoid quarantine and that would be OK. It's one airport but it's a good start and I would expect the rest of the country to follow suit within a few weeks of this. I predicted this previously, Colombia has been closed off for months and whether you want to believe it or not tourism is important as Colombia has always had plans to increase tourism every year. People kept pointing out GDP and tourism being a small drop in the bucket and it wouldn't happen. And now what? Colombialover will be devastated he got this one wrong and that people will be able to travel to Colombia, but most of us will not. If anyone is concerned, stay at home. The rest of us, well. 2020 has a chance to finish on a positive note.

No disagreement here on a 14 day quarantine being a non-starter. Best case scenario would be a negative test result and free to go. However I suspect Colombia will not be allowing this as they have been very conservative thus far, and I hope I am wrong on this. Some other Countries are testing upon arrival and making you stay in a Hotel for a few days waiting test results. This is very doable, where as other Countries are still requiring a 14 day quarantine period. If Colombia truly wants to re-start things, then hopefully they will make it easy. We will know soon enough as to what those requirements are, and hopefully they will be doable for those wanting to return.

[MarquisdeSade1]

What's the advice? I'm getting whiplash from trying to follow the discussion that now touches on Europe, New York and Arizona / Mexico. Surf touched on a salient point. Coronavirus is historically bad but there are many other health threats (including traumatic accidents) that can hit without warning. If there are doubts about surviving health care delivery in Colombia then it's not a place where you can live, or even play. If the US health care system is the key to staying safe from Coronavirus then how is it the US is the world leader in virus deaths? Is it a case of misleading statistics? Anyway, I think I agree it's best to stay away if you would not feel safe.

If the US health care system is the key to staying safe from Coronavirus then how is it the US is the world leader in virus deaths?

Your ISG name is knowledge? Is that you being funny? Everyone knows the best health care by light years in the world is in the USA, what is "best"? Highly advanced treatments highly advanced.

And skilled surgeons and physicians and researchers, the absolute highly ranked in the world.

To answer your question, why so many died, well too many flights were allowed in from Asia, and many travelers flew from Asia then Europe then to the east coast.

Also many people that died were very old and ill already, also just because the USA has the absolute "best" medicine in the world doesn't mean everyone chooses to access it.

Some choose to go uninsured, or go to the shitty hospital nearest to their home rather than driving to the best medical facility in their area only 10 or 20 miles away.

[Elvis 2008]

What's the advice? I'm getting whiplash from trying to follow the discussion that now touches on Europe, New York and Arizona / Mexico. Surf touched on a salient point.

Knowledge,

It is real simple with me and Covid. If I get sick, can I get oxygen or am I having to pay tens of thousands like in Peru? If I cannot get it at an affordable price in that country, it is off limits. The rate of death with Covid and oxygen is something I will risk. Without oxygen, it is something I will not risk and I think no one, not even younger people in their 20's and 30's, should risk.

[Surfer500]

Yes really, if you've been anything close to these areas where its surged like crazy, it gets to feel exactly apocalyptic. Ask those in Lombardy, or NY or the Rio Grande valley etc and then see how they describe. Hey I don't want for this to happen there or anywhere and maybe it won't but they in Medellin haven't gone through anything like the hard hit areas. It certainly should factor into people's thinking. After that each monger makes their own call. But saying its minimal risk or totally rationalizing it away is ridiculous.

My post did not mention anything about minimal risk, the virus is a clear and present danger, but your post made it sound like Medellin would possibly be in turmoil until next Summer, maybe you were thinking similar to Lombardy, Italy or New York City.

I doubt and hope that will not be the case, as Colombia has been pretty good at throttling things thus far, and I agree with you regarding Hospitals in the USA being better, but your post made it seem as though the Hospitals in Medellin are truly third world which isn't the case. I am concerned though as to how things will fare when they open up all the restaurants and bars, and suspect Colombia will clamp down if things get out of control which unfortunately has been the case in other Countries upon re-starting things.

The whole thing is a shitty deal, especially for those of us who are retired with money to burn like me.

[Elvis 2008]

Colombia has been closed off for months and whether you want to believe it or not tourism is important as Colombia has always had plans to increase tourism every year. People kept pointing out GDP and tourism being a small drop in the bucket and it wouldn't happen. And now what?

That is a great question, Puntz, now what? Colombia did everything Fauci and the so called experts said. Here is an article showing Fauci saying all states should have done a generalized lockdown. Thing is the states in the USA who did not go into lockdown have not had their economies devastated or a huge rise in viral cases. See the link: https://www.aier.org/article/a-close...t-stayed-open/.

The lockdowns were put in place so the virus did not overwhelm the health care system. Then some politicians got great results with the lockdowns and touted them as cures and patted themselves on the back for getting rid of the virus. Thing is that the virus mutated and when the USA reversed the lockdowns, cases of Covid did not go down but soared and places like New Zealand which declared victory over the virus saw it come back. In addition, Colombia opened things up a little and also had a surge in cases, yet people to this day think that Covid is a one size fits all thing.

I like your question, and now what? The president locked down the country, banned international travel, and cases have soared such that Colombia is now #7 in the world with cases. Even the well worn line of the experts in a case of horrific policy, "Can you imagine if we had done nothing? Kind of falls on its face here because you have examples of places that did do nothing and had a better outcome than Colombia has.

The funny thing is that one American political has invested in the so called experts so much that they cannot even admit when the experts are all over the place or wrong. How this relates to Colombia is what do you do next if you are Colombia which followed all the expert advice?

The excuse given for this failure has been that the people were not compliant with the laws. So what do you do now? Shoot people who do not wear a mask? You have locked people up for five months to "stay safe" and they have suffered financially, and the virus is raging anyway.

Did banning international travel work to slow the virus in Colombia? Of course not, yet the president is keeping it in place not because it worked but because he does not want to admit he made a mistake. What other reason is there?

Someone said that in all the models, models that have failed spectacularly in Colombia, movement was associated with spread of the disease as if movement can be curtailed. How are busted water pipes fixed without movement? Health care workers getting to work? I guess the idea is government regulation of movement was supposed to be the answer, essential and nonessential movement, but those models were doomed. How can government even begin to regulate all movement? And even if they could, how could it be right about which movements transmit the virus and which ones do not? Come on. That was unrealistic and an impossible task.

And now what? Here is what I predict. The president closes back down again, prays the number of cases goes down, and that the economy can rebound from this horrible devastation from these failed policies. And the next time when Colombia opens up, he prays the number of cases does not surge, but there is no science behind the answer. You are betting that the policies that failed in the past now work. He is completely winging it, and the people of Colombia and those of us who want to go there are losing faith.

If Colombia starts charging a $1000 per bottle of oxygen, the death rate in Colombia will soon be approaching that of Peru, and I am not going. If people do not have faith in a country's health care system, they will not travel there, and that tourism will be gone for years. Sadly, that is what I see happening in Colombia, a mirror of Peru, and there is no way in hell I would go to Peru now.

The president has not learned from his mistakes and the economic destruction continues going forward as does the viral destruction. Either one of two things happens: the virus burns itself out or people realize that they have to live with the virus and carry on with it as a risk as best they can, but I think either scenario will not come to fruition in months or even years.

[Knowledge]

What's the advice? I'm getting whiplash from trying to follow the discussion that now touches on Europe, New York and Arizona / Mexico. Surf touched on a salient point. Coronavirus is historically bad but there are many other health threats (including traumatic accidents) that can hit without warning. If there are doubts about surviving health care delivery in Colombia then it's not a place where you can live, or even play. If the US health care system is the key to staying safe from Coronavirus then how is it the US is the world leader in virus deaths? Is it a case of misleading statistics? Anyway, I think I agree it's best to stay away if you would not feel safe.

Yes really, if you've been anything close to these areas where its surged like crazy, it gets to feel exactly apocalyptic. Ask those in Lombardy, or NY or the Rio Grande valley etc and then see how they describe. Hey I don't want for this to happen there or anywhere and maybe it won't but they in Medellin haven't gone through anything like the hard hit areas. It certainly should factor into people's thinking. After that each monger makes their own call. But saying its minimal risk or totally rationalizing it away is ridiculous.

[GeneHickman]

Yes, I have heard of that here, from an acquaintance that works in a hospital billing dept here. She said that practically anyone that shows up with a complaint will be admitted for COVID, because of high billing rates. And that hospitals are reimbursed 50 million COP for COVID deaths in the UCI. And that they are asking for large sum payments up-front. I don't know anymore and that's just what I was told by one person.

Personally, as a former licensed healthcare professional, and someone who has been to two different hospitals here for testing and consults and surgery, I have no hesitation about receiving care here in Medellin if I get sick. Someone mentioned getting taking a medevac to the USA. That's silly. American hospitals don't offer any more than metropolitan Colombian hospitals do.

Damn dude, I don't know what kind of licensed medical professional you were, but if you were to get sick, I mean like ICU level sick, costs aside, there is no better place to be than in the US. Heck most 3rd world hospitals haven't even heard of far less have ecmo treatment for example, but like I said, to each their own, rationalization is a powerful thing, especially when youthful warm pussy is calling. 😂.

[GeneHickman]

Really.

Your post is very apocalyptic, especially for the board members living in Medellin.

Is it really so dangerous, granted you might get better care and access to better treatments in the USA, but it's not as gloom and doom as you make it out to be.

Yes really, if you've been anything close to these areas where its surged like crazy, it gets to feel exactly apocalyptic. Ask those in Lombardy, or NY or the Rio Grande valley etc and then see how they describe. Hey I don't want for this to happen there or anywhere and maybe it won't but they in Medellin haven't gone through anything like the hard hit areas. It certainly should factor into people's thinking. After that each monger makes their own call. But saying its minimal risk or totally rationalizing it away is ridiculous.

[Elvis 2008]

Yes, I have heard of that here, from an acquaintance that works in a hospital billing dept here. She said that practically anyone that shows up with a complaint will be admitted for COVID, because of high billing rates. And that hospitals are reimbursed 50 million COP for COVID deaths in the UCI. And that they are asking for large sum payments up-front. I don't know anymore and that's just what I was told by one person.

Personally, as a former licensed healthcare professional, and someone who has been to two different hospitals here for testing and consults and surgery, I have no hesitation about receiving care here in Medellin if I get sick. American hospitals don't offer any more than metropolitan Colombian hospitals do.

Do you know if they will take insurance in light of that upfront payment? Do you know how much they are asking for upfront? That may be a reason for me not to go.

In a weird way, Colombian hospitals bilking the government and insurance companies with Covid just like they are in the USA is refreshing to me in a weird way because they have been devoid of so many revenues from elective procedures. The treatment for Covid is heparin (cheap), steroids, (cheap), and oxygen (should be cheap). I think that people miss the point with Covid. Everyone is talking about death, but death rates are down. The thing is that people do get sick very quickly with Covid, and they need high dose oxygen right away.

When Sly one said that oxygen is in short supply in Peru, that clinched it for me, no fucking way am I going there if that is the case. Not having oxygen may be why the death rates are so high in Peru. He also indicated that they are not taking insurance only cash for oxygen.

Anyone interested in Colombia should probably do what is mandated in Brazil and buy health insurance when going to Colombia once it opens. It was dirt cheap for Brazil. For a two week trip, $20 got you $50,000 in coverage.

The question now is: will the hospitals just take the insurance or do they want thousands up front like the hospitals in Peru do? Does anyone here know?

[SlapShot10]

If theres the presence of humanitarian flights it means no other international flights. Until humanatarian flights become non existent then there will be no other international flights. Its you who don't have a clue.

.

Blakmanometry...

Humanitarian Flights cannot be cancelled once they are scheduled. Only Commercial Flights are allowed to be cancelled.

Sorry to SJobs, et al!

All this news might get me to extend my rent beyond a month. I also think I will hold off on Pereira, or another location, and see how things shape up the next few weeks. I'd rather do Pereira in November when things are open, rather than experience a shell of it, now. I also might get some dental work done in the next month, and don't want to be traveling with some uncertainties surrounding that process.

I forgot to mention, the Hooters GM said they're opening Monday! Patrick's was thinking a much longer timeline before their re-opening. I was told the Hooters building was a former Escobar house. Maybe the owners have some connections that a gringo would not, or maybe Hooters just has the ability to throw more money at a solution. Regardless, I can almost guarantee I'll be sipping a cold Aguila and oogling the talent, in the very near future!

[Blakman]

If theres the presence of humanitarian flights it means no other international flights. Until humanatarian flights become non existent then there will be no other international flights. Its you who don't have a clue.

These have been going on since the lock down in March. I believe the first flights out were the first week in April. They have continued about every 3 weeks since. Simply put, you have no clue.

.

[Puntz79]

Yes but short of details as to what the entry requirements will be. I read it twice, and albeit my Spanish skills are limited, I saw no mention of what testing or whether there would be quarantines, except that those details would be worked out I think this coming week. IF stringent with a two week quarantine, well that will be a non-starter for most.

It almost seemed as though it was an advertisement for Cali boasting about it's geographic location, and how it's handled the Pandemic. These were the primary reasons the article say's it's opening over other Cities in the Country. You would think something like this would of been announced by the President of the Country. SJobs probably has already booked his flights!

It's not too good to be true. It's aimed at restarting tourism and the focus / activities of the traveler would be for tourism. For this to work, I cannot imagine it being a 14-day quarantine. A few major US airports have been doing testing for outbound Intl departures, they might require a negative test to avoid quarantine and that would be OK. It's one airport but it's a good start and I would expect the rest of the country to follow suit within a few weeks of this. I predicted this previously, Colombia has been closed off for months and whether you want to believe it or not tourism is important as Colombia has always had plans to increase tourism every year. People kept pointing out GDP and tourism being a small drop in the bucket and it wouldn't happen. And now what? Colombialover will be devastated he got this one wrong and that people will be able to travel to Colombia, but most of us will not. If anyone is concerned, stay at home. The rest of us, well. 2020 has a chance to finish on a positive note.

[Fun Luvr]

... I have never seen surge prices in Medellin, on Uber, but yesterday around 630p the 15k fare had skyrocketed to 35k. I also noticed it doesn't show a surge multiplier, like in the US.

Before the pandemic, I noticed that quite a bit with Uber, especially in late afternoon and early evening. Many times, it was cheaper to use Cabify (the yellow cabs).