Brazil: Belo Horizonte resumes mask mandate in closed places

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The city of Belo Horizonte resumed the requirement for using masks indoors to contain the advance of covid-19 and other respiratory diseases in the city.

The measure starts on Tuesday, June 14, and lasts until July 31. The decree with the new rules will be published in the Municipal Official Gazette.

According to the Municipal Health Secretariat, the resumption of the obligation to wear masks considered the increased number of contaminations by covid-19.

According to 14-day accumulated data, on May 19, the number of new cases was 112.9 per 100,000 inhabitants. The most recent data, from June 8, are 156 confirmed cases per 100,000 inhabitants.

The decision to resume the obligation also considered the increase in the positivity of the tests.

According to the Health Secretariat, in the week between May 1st and 7th, 6,531 tests were done, with a positivity rate of 6%.

Between May 29 and June 4, there were 20,964 tests, with 19% positivity. The exams were performed in the city’s own network.

“Our protocols are reviewed daily and changed according to epidemiological data, assistance, and based on scientific evidence. At this moment, we understand that we must go back to the mandatory use of the mask in closed places,” said the Health Secretary, Cláudia Navarro, in a press conference in which the decision was announced.

With information from Agência Brasil