17 March 2020 – State of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency declared

Type of Intervention: Executive Order
Sectors Involved: Civil Defence
Level of Jurisdiction: National
Lead People/Agency: Intervention made by all The Cabinet of Ministers

Overview: Decree of the Presidency of the Republic by which a State of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency is declared throughout the national territory.

The State of Emergency authorizes the President of the Republic, with the signature of all the ministers, to issue decrees with the force of law exclusively destined to ward off the crisis and prevent the extension of its effects.
Full details here: https://coronaviruscolombia.gov.co/Covid19/docs/decretos/presidencia/51_Presidencia_Decreto_417.pdf

Other links: 1
Type of Justification: Advice of INTERNAL government advisory committee or group, Advice of EXTERNAL expert advisor or advisory committee, Advice of EXTERNAL group of non-academics (e.g. business or community leaders), Learning from other jurisdictions, Scientific Evidence (e.g. academic paper, report)
Source of Evidence or Justification: World Health Organisation, National – government, International – academic, International – government
Evidence/Justification: Among others:

That the vertiginous escalation of the outbreak of the new coronavirus COVID -19 until configuring a pandemic, declared by the WHO, currently represents a global threat to public health with effects on the economic system, of unpredictable and incalculable magnitudes, of which Colombia cannot be exempt.

 That the aforementioned shows that the Colombian health system is not physically prepared to deal with a health emergency, it needs to be strengthened immediately to attend a surprise event of the magnitudes that the pandemic has already reached in other countries.

That 42.4% of workers in Colombia are self-employed and 56.4% are not salaried.

The US Federal Reserve (FED) Surprisingly, it cut the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points (bps), with the aim of anchoring market expectations and stimulating the global economy, in the context of the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 to world level. Despite the tools used by the world’s main central banks and the different economic authorities, the fear of the expansion of the new coronavirus COVID-19 has surprisingly and unpredictably caused the deterioration of the international financial market, lower global demand and a fall in world growth prospects.