The main effect of the declaration of the state of emergency in Colombia is that the President of the Republic can issue decrees with the force of law exclusively aimed at averting the crisis and preventing the extension of its effects. 

The previous declaration was made because the President of the Republic considered that the state authorities don’t have enough powers to deal with the unforeseen and triggering circumstances of the economic and social crisis generated by the new Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.

It is important to clarify that decrees with the force of law, which may be issued by the President of the Republic for 30 days (extendable for up to two additional periods of 30 days each), are provisions that have the same normative hierarchy as those issued by the ordinary lawmaker.

Finally, it is important to remark some of the measures announced by the government at Decree 417 of 2020: 

i) Take the resources that are at the Nation's and the and the Territorial Entities expense.
ii) Reduction and optimization of the capital of financial entities with State shareholding.
iii) To strengthen the Fondo Nacional de Garantías -FNG. 
iv) Creation of a trust to address the effects generated by the pandemic.
v) Adopt extraordinary measures to decapitalize financial entities with state participation. 
vi) Analyze all tax measures that may be applicable.
vii) Seek legal mechanisms to facilitate and speed up the processes of corporate reorganization and insolvency.
viii) To issue legal norms that make the obligation of personalized attention to the user more flexible and even allow the suspension of legal terms in administrative and jurisdictional proceedings.
ix) To issue rules that enable judicial and administrative proceedings to be carried out using technological means. 
x) To issue rules to simplify the administrative sanctioning process contained in Law 9 of 1979 and in Law 1437 of 2011 guaranteeing due process and the right to defense.
xi) Make the labor system more flexible in terms of the requirements of the workers to be hired.
xii) Implement measures for the import and marketing of fuels in order not to affect supply.
xiii) The national government is authorized to use the direct contracting procedure following the principles of transparency and legality so that the competent entities in the sectors of health, social prosperity, education, defense and all those sectors that require to provide attention to the affected population, acquire the supply of goods, the provision of services or the execution of works in the immediate future.
xiv) Modify regulatory provisions of the General Royalty System.
xv) Adopt the necessary actions to guarantee the permanent operation of the food supply and security system throughout the national territory.

In any case, during the process of evaluation of the effects of the emergency, new requirements could be detected and, therefore, new strategies could be designed to deal with the crisis.