RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Embassy of the United States in Brazil posted, on Tuesday evening, March 24th, a health warning for all Americans who are or live in Brazilian territory to return to the US as soon as possible.
The US had already urged its citizens abroad to return to the country due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday, the US Embassy in Brazil displayed the flight options available from Brazil to the US.
About two hours before the US embassy in Brazil listed the options for departure by air from Brazilian territory, President Jair Bolsonaro delivered a speech on TV.
Contrary to everything that experts and health authorities from the country and around the world have been preaching as a means of preventing the spread of the new coronavirus, Bolsonaro criticized on national television the request for all those who can to remain at home.
Bolsonaro blamed the media for spreading, he said, a sense of “dread”. And he said that if he gets the virus, he will not catch anything more than a “flu”.
The Health Ministry said it will not comment on the President’s statement.
The text, posted on Twitter, with a repeated link posted on the website of the US Embassy and Consulates in Brazil, is titled as follows:
Message to American Citizens: Commercial Flight Options from Brazil
According to the State Department’s Level Four Global Health Notice, US citizens living in Brazil must arrange immediate return to the United States unless they are prepared to remain abroad for an indefinite period of time.
The US Embassy in Brasília would like to advise US citizens in Brazil that commercial flight options remain available with departures from Brazil to the United States, but we expect this number to decrease.
US citizens wishing to return to the United States should do so as soon as possible as the travel situation is changing very rapidly and the availability of flights is subject to change. Domestic flight schedules in Brazil are also being significantly reduced, and US citizens who are currently outside the international gateway cities listed below should also monitor their ability to secure a connecting flight by checking the nearest airport website.
The notice then lists the commercial flights available to the US that the Embassy was aware of on Tuesday, March 24th.
The US reported 44,183 cases of the Covid-19 and at least 544 deaths by Tuesday, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) latest balance.
At least 13 states have introduced social distancing measures to halt the spread of the new coronavirus, and approximately 45 percent of the US population would already be infected, according to the CNN news network.
Debbie Birx, White House coordinator for the Coronavirus response, said a new protocol has been established for people who have visited the New York metropolitan area. Travelers who passed through the region most affected by the outbreak in the country are expected to remain isolated for 14 days.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Tuesday that it is witnessing a “very large surge” in the number of cases of coronavirus in the United States, which represents the potential for the country to become the new epicenter of the epidemic.
Since March 17th, the US Embassy and all its consulates in Brazil have cancelled routine immigration and non-immigrant visa interviews for an indefinite period of time.
Routine non-safety-related services, such as passport renewals without impending travel, are not being scheduled. The embassy is only providing emergency services for US citizens in Brazil.