RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Walking through the streets of Brazil, you realize that, in people’s minds, the pandemic in Latin America’s largest country is over.
Bars, beaches, parties full of crowds of all kinds. The vast majority of people are without protective masks. Even the vaccination passport is not required in practice in most places, although it is mandatory in some states and cities. More on this below.
Covid-19 is being dealt with in Brazil in a tangle of laws and regulations at the federal, state, and local levels. President Jair Bolsonaro announced last week that, in light of the improving situation, Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga is considering “downgrading the current situation of Covid-19 in Brazil to ‘endemic,'” which should see the country lift most or all restrictions.
In Brazil, it is up to the individual states and municipalities to enact laws on Covid. This leads to the kind of chaos that can only be found here. The culprit is the Supreme Court (STF), which cannot resist interfering in legislation.
In the case of the Coronavirus, the court already ruled in 2020, brazenly defying the will of the president, that a national Covid policy was undesirable because the highly politicized STF could not come to terms with Bolsonaro’s view of things.
Following last week’s presidential announcement, several states and municipalities have begun removing restrictions. In the Federal District, where the capital Brasilia is located, the wearing of masks in public places is no longer mandatory since Monday (7).
RIO DE JANEIRO
Another example is the city of Rio de Janeiro, which since this Tuesday (8) completely frees the use of masks in public and enclosed spaces. Masks were mandatory in public places since October 2021.
Health Secretary Daniel Soranz announced the release because he believes there will be a permanent decrease in severe cases and hospitalizations due to Covid-19.
For inexplicable reasons, however, the city is sticking with the vaccination passport despite the fact that there is no scientific basis for its use.
In heavily vaccinated countries such as Israel and the UK, more double- and triple-vaccinated people are falling ill and dying than unvaccinated people. In view of this situation, maintaining a vaccine passport makes no sense and leaves a bitter taste.
However, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, shared in his Twitter profile that in three weeks the population and tourists will be exempt from presenting the vaccination card.
SÃO PAULO
The state of São Paulo is also expected to relax restrictions this week. “I would say there is a good chance that this will happen,” said Governor João Doria.
Sources cited in the report indicate that some of these measures are expected to be released on Wednesday (9th).
According to João Doria, it is up to the Covid-19 Scientific Committee to establish the guidelines. It is possible that the relaxation will be gradual. The committee is currently reviewing the statistics on Carnival and then will make a decision.
PARANÁ
Probably the most unprofessional answer came from the Secretary of State for Health of the Paraná state, Beto Preto, who told the press on Friday (4) that “it is not yet time to take off the masks when going to the streets, stores and other places.”
This reasoning is as surprising as it is wrong, since a) nothing protects against omicron and b) it has long been known that wearing masks does not prevent infection in general.
Could it be that the authorities in Paraná take too much pleasure in ordering their citizens around and therefore force them to take unjustified measures such as wearing masks outdoors?
Progressive countries like Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, the UK, the Netherlands, and others, have already dropped all restrictions weeks ago.
Without giving a specific date, Beto Preto said, “We had been preparing to take off the masks outdoors, but then came the Omicron variant. Now that we understand this context, we may have the opportunity to make mask-wearing more flexible in a few weeks.”
For information about vaccine passports scroll down.
SANTA CATARINA
André Motta Ribeiro, Secretary of State for Health in Santa Catarina, said that instead of “decrees,” the state prefers to issue “recommendations and guidelines.”
The state has already approved that masks are no longer mandatory in schools for children between 6 and 12 years.
The first article of the decree states, “The use of personal protective masks by children aged 6 to 12 is the responsibility of their parents or guardians, who should supervise the correct use of the mask, its donning and removal.
However, the same decree maintains different rules: “The decree does not exclude the use of an individual protective mask for all groups of people, both in closed environments and in open environments where there are many people.”
For information about vaccine passports scroll down.
RIO GRANDE DO SUL
Rio Grande do Sul borders Santa Catarina and faces a legal dilemma. While the state government allows the flexible use of masks, especially in schools, an association of fathers and mothers has petitioned the courts to make their use mandatory. The dispute is still awaiting a new court decision.
For information about vaccine passports scroll down.
MINAS GERAIS
In the capital of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, the wearing of masks in public places is no longer mandatory.
At closed events, for example, the wearing of masks is still mandatory, except when eating or drinking, as well as in public transportation, commercial establishments, offices, schools, and universities. The use of the mask was also waived during collective sporting activities.
For information about vaccine passports scroll down.
NORTHEASTERN STATES
The Northeast Consortium, created by the Assembly of the 9 (nine) states of the Northeast Region, i.e., Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe, has also expressed support for the mask exemption.
This is according to Wellington Dias, governor of Piauí and current coordinator of the issue of vaccines and confrontation with Covid at the National Governors’ Forum.
According to him, the Northeast Consortium will wait until the 14th to make a decision. That’s because that’s the date set to evaluate the impact of the carnival season in terms of the level of transmissibility and deaths.
“The possibility of the transition from the pandemic to the endemic phase is real. The virus remains among us, like other viruses, but with a greater ability to be controlled. What is the timing and appropriate dosing for each phase of flexibilization? Our scientific committee is based on the World Health Organization and the experience of several countries that have gone through this phase that Brazil must go through, and we want the highest level of safety, always putting life first,” says Wellington Dias.
VACCINE PASSPORT
The federal Senate passed a bill last year establishing the National Immunization and Health Security Passport (PSS), also known as the “vaccination card.” The individual document will be issued by the Ministry of Health and Health Offices. However, the project is still under discussion in the National Congress.
It is up to each state or municipality to enact legislation on the issue, but federal institutions, such as some universities (which have administrative autonomy), may or may not require the Covid passport.
The law passed by the Senate has not yet passed the Chamber of Deputies. The President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, said he would veto the law if it is approved by the National Congress (Chamber of Deputies and Senate).
An inter-ministerial decree published last December, which became law, states that Covid passports will be required for international travelers in the future.
According to the Santa Maria Federal University News Agency (UFSM), some states have already decided to adopt the use of the document proving vaccination.
States such as Rio Grande do Sul, Amazonas, Pará, Pernambuco and Espírito Santo have decided to require the Covid passport.
Santa Catarina has opted for a document that is only required at large events and can be replaced by an RT-PCR test.
In the state of São Paulo, the government has given autonomy to individual municipalities to decide on this issue. However, since August, proof of vaccination has been required for events with more than 500 people.