RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – São Paulo’s governor João Doria yesterday announced a further quarantine period in the state as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The new period runs from July 27th to August 10th. This is the eighth quarantine in the state, which has been in social isolation since March 24th.
The new São Paulo Plan classification – the program for the gradual restart of economic activities – was also announced. Currently, the state has only three regions in the red phase: Franca, Ribeirão Preto and Piracicaba. Araraquara moved to the yellow phase and became the first inland region to achieve this classification.
The quarantine update and extension were announced at a press conference, held in an optimistic tone due to the indicators. This was the first time no region recorded a phase downgrade. The governor pointed out that the number of cases dropped by five percent, the number of hospitalizations by four percent, and the number of deaths by three percent.
Capital will not reopen theatres and cinemas
São Paulo Mayor Bruno Covas said the city has been experiencing a drop in deaths for eight weeks. The peak occurred in week 11 when 767 deaths were recorded. Last week, it was 320 – a 58 percent decrease.
Despite the positive indicators, the Mayor announced that cinemas and theaters will not reopen at this time. Covas explained that health authorities in the capital have advised waiting for the city to be classified in the green phase, despite the authorization of the São Paulo Plan. No region in the state is currently in this phase.
The postponement of Carnival 2021 was also announced. One of the reasons is that the samba school rehearsals start months in advance and gather thousands of people on school grounds. Furthermore, samba groups take six months to prepare for the parades. The street block Carnaval, despite requiring less time to organize, has also been deferred. The new date has not been set, but the chance of it taking place in late May or early July is being considered.
The March for Jesus and the LGBTQ+ Parade, both of which should have been held in June during the pandemic, were also canceled. Both had been rescheduled for November, but the in-person events, which typically gather approximately three million people, have now been called off.
Source: UOL