RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The government will postpone the entry into force of health rules for travelers entering the country by one week. The reason was the cyberattack on websites, applications, and systems of the Ministry of Health, early yesterday (10).
The information is from the executive secretary of the Ministry of Health (MS), Rodrigo Cruz, who talked to the press at the Ministry of Health’s office today (10).
The Ministry of Health’s website and the ConecteSUS page and application, which provides the Covid-19 National Certificate of Vaccination, were hacked. The ministry’s website is back up and running, but it is still impossible to access data about the Covid-19 vaccine provided by ConecteSUS.
Also affected was e-SUS Notifica, which receives notifications from states and municipalities about suspected and confirmed covid-19 influenza syndrome. Another system affected was the National Immunization Program (SI-PNI).
“The DataSUS team is evaluating the re-establishment of the database, but we still don’t have a deadline. As a precaution, we are going to publish an ordinance today postponing for seven days the beginning of the rules that would start tomorrow,” said Cruz. He explained that the ordinance would be published in an extra edition of the Federal Gazette.
According to the secretary, the goal is to prevent Brazilians who are already traveling abroad from being prejudiced because they could not download documents proving vaccination against Covid-19. He added that the ministry and the cloud service (data storage) have a policy of backups (security copies).
COVID-19 RULES
The new Covid-19 rules would have come into effect Saturday (11). To enter Brazil, travelers will have to present proof of complete vaccination against Covid-19, and the application of the last dose or the single-dose must have happened at least 14 days before departure. A negative RT-PCR test performed up to 72 hours before or a negative antigen test performed 24 hours before will also be required.
The immunizers used must be approved by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Brazilian National Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa), or by health authorities in the country where the traveler received the dose.
Non-vaccinated passengers, in addition to submitting the test results, must go through a five-day quarantine in the city listed as the final destination on the Traveler’s Health Declaration.
A new RT-PCR or antigen test will be required at the end of the quarantine. If the result is positive, the traveler remains in quarantine. If negative, they will be allowed to travel generally within the country.
AIRPORTS
On Monday (13), the airports in Brasília (BSB), Guarulhos in São Paulo (GRU), and Galeão in Rio de Janeiro (GIG), will have Covid-19 vaccination posts. The terminals account for the most significant volume of international passengers. According to the Ministry of Health, the idea is that the posts operate during peak hours.