Anvisa, the Brazilian health regulator, approved on Tuesday night (Nov. 22) the return of the mandatory use of masks inside airplanes and at airports in Brazil.
The measure goes into effect on Friday (Nov. 25). Since August, the use of masks was only a recommendation.
“The use of masks in higher risk environments, due to their characteristics of confinement, circulation, and agglomeration of people, represents an act of citizenship and protection to the community and aims to mitigate the risk of transmission and contagion of the disease,” says Alex Campos, director of the agency.
Read here why there is no case for mask mandates and why they are even widely considered harmful.
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In a statement, Anvisa said it decided to reintroduce the mask requirement after meeting with epidemiologists and representatives from:
Brazilian Society of Infectology;
Conass (National Council of Health Secretaries);
Conasems (National Council of Municipal Health Secretaries);
Fiocruz (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation);
Brazilian Association of Collective Health.
“Given the current epidemiological data, which indicate an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the Brazilian population, the Collegiate Board of Directors believes it is necessary to reinstate the mandatory use of face masks in airports and aircraft, to contain the spread of the disease in the population that uses these environments for work or travel,” the agency said.
But contrary to what Anvisa claims, Unified Health System data debunks the alleged “explosion of Covid-19 cases” in Brazil as false
According to data from the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Surveillance System of the Unified Health System (SUS), a new “explosion of cases” of Covid-19 is not underway.
After new recommendations from “authorities” for the return of the use of masks and further pressure for vaccination, data storage specialist and Ph.D.
in Computer Science Lorenzo Ridolfi decided to consult the SARS data to check if there was, in fact, an increase in hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19.
According to the data verified by the specialist, the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 has declined since August 2022.