Brazil may downgrade Covid-19 pandemic to endemic, says president

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said today, March 3, that Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga is studying to downgrade to endemic the status of Covid-19 in Brazil.

“Given the improvement of the epidemiological scenario and following § 2 of Art. 1 of Law 13.979/2020, the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, is studying to downgrade to endemic the current status of covid-19 in Brazil,” Bolsonaro said via a post on Twitter.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health confirmed that it is already adopting the necessary measures to reclassify the status of covid-19 in Brazil, which is currently identified as a pandemic. “The Ministry of Health is evaluating the measure, together with other ministries and competent bodies, taking into account the epidemiological scenario and the virus’ behavior in the country,” the body stated.

DIFFERENCES

Since March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the covid-19 health outbreak as a pandemic.

The term endemic is used in cases of recurrent, typical diseases that are frequent in a particular region but for which there is already an effective response to the population by the health network.

A disease can start as an outbreak or epidemic and become a pandemic when it reaches worldwide levels, that is, when a particular agent spreads in several countries or continents, usually affecting a large number of people.

If it is treated as an endemic, covid-19 will no longer be a health emergency. Thus, restrictions such as masks, prohibition of crowds, vaccination passport requirements, and compulsory medical examinations may no longer be mandatory.

With information from Agência Brasil

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