“We want to inform the country that a new phase begins on September 1, where we change the concept of Mandatory Preventive Isolation, with a significant number of exceptions, to having a concept of Selective Isolation, distancing and individual responsibility,” said President Duque on his nightly COVID-19 Pandemic focused TV show ‘Prevention and Action’.

Duque pointed out that in this new stage, “we are no longer going to be governed by exceptions, but by specific restrictions, where restrictions will apply to events and crowds, where we will continue to advance in the opening of sectors with the protocols that have been established by the Ministry of Health, observing the criteria where we all continue to protect ourselves to protect others.”

The president underlined his intention to reopen transportation networks and some entertainment options, but the pandemic and public behavior would be closely monitored, and adjustments made as necessary. The government is also working on a plan to reopen schools, which generally would have already restarted under the Colombian scholastic calendar.

Duque insisted that those able to telework continue to do so, and that they still plan to reopen air travel, gymnasiums and physical fitness facilities, and restaurants, though events and crowds will still remain restricted. Restaurants will open to diners under diminished capacity restrictions, and open-air dining will be encouraged.

Colombian and international airlines have already begun accepting reservations for flights starting in September, and intermunicipal bus transport es expected to begin as well.

“A measure that has been successful in many parts of the world and that we now bring to our country as one more tool to protect those people who have worked so hard and who have worked so hard, for our country,” said Duque.

Reverse mortgages will be provided to consumers through financial institutions such as banks.

The new program is aimed at people over 65 who are homeowners and want to have a complementary income. With this new mechanism, they will be able to mortgage their property in exchange for a monthly lifetime income. Housing Minister Jonathan Malagón stressed that with the reverse mortgage, applicants will be able to secure their financial support during old age.

Reverse mortgages allow a homeowner to make an arrangement with a financial institution where typically they receive a monthly payment for the rest of their lives in exchange for a security interest in their home.

Upon the death of the homeowner, the heirs can pay off the mortgage debt with their resources, selling the property and paying the corresponding percentage or handing over the property as payment for the rent that their relative received.

The government pointed out that the instrument manages three types of income, depending on the needs of those who decide to use it: life annuity, which consists of a monthly payment until the person dies. Temporary income, which is the destination of a monthly value for a certain number of years, and the single income, in which the entire value is received in a single installment.

The value of the monthly payment depends on several factors, such as the appraisal of the home, the age of the applicants for the product and the selected reverse mortgage modality. Regarding age, in the Colombian implementation both the applicant and the beneficiaries must be over 65 years of age.

Rural home photo in Santandercito, Cundinamarca © Loren Moss