Brazil: At least 11 federal units have relaxed the use of masks

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – At least ten Brazilian states and the Federal District have already relaxed their rules for using respiratory protective masks, authorizing local governments to follow suit. Although there are, among experts, those who consider the relaxation of the protective measure against the new coronavirus premature, the governments claim that the progress of vaccination and the lower number of cases of covid-19 in the country make it safe for people to discover their faces again after two years of the pandemic.

Among the 11 federative units consulted by Agência Brasil, the last one to implement the new rules was Minas Gerais. Since March 12, the state government has made wearing masks in open spaces optional. However, the final decision is up to the municipalities, which may not adopt what the state government classifies as an “orientation”, adopted “based on the improvement of pandemic indicators” in the state. Whatever the municipalities’ decision concerning open spaces, the mask should continue to be required in closed places in cities where less than 70% of the population eligible to be immunized have completed the vaccination cycle.

The government of Rio de Janeiro authorized the Rio de Janeiro city halls to release the population from the obligation to wear masks in open-air environments, as long as they observe criteria such as respect for social distancing and the percentage of the immunized population. Initially, the advance of the Omicron variant discouraged many cities from relaxing the rules. Until, at the beginning of this month, the state government released the municipalities to relax the rules in closed places. The state health secretary, Alexandre Chieppe, recommended that people with signs and symptoms of any respiratory disease should continue to use the protection when approaching other people. In the capital of Rio de Janeiro, the mayor, Eduardo Paes, revoked the obligation to wear masks on March 7.

Besides Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, the following states have also announced more flexible rules than those adopted in the first months of the pandemic Amazonas, Federal District, Espírito Santo, Goiás, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo. Other states like Bahia and Paraná have already informed that they will announce new regulations soon if the numbers of infections and, especially, deaths continue to drop.

In Amazonas, since March 11, the city halls can make masks in open places optional. Even so, the State Health Department advises the municipalities that do so to continue recommending the use of protective equipment, especially by those over 60 years old, and that the population avoids crowds.

In the Federal District, where the mandatory use of masks in outdoor locations was revoked at the beginning of March, masks in indoor areas became optional on March 10. “We hope that the population will be careful, avoiding crowds, because the pandemic still exists. The time has come for us to try to return to a normal life,” declared the governor Ibaneis Rocha when announcing the measure.

In Espírito Santo, only on March 14, the inhabitants of the cities could go back to circulating in open places with their faces visible. The end of the obligation in open-air spaces is valid for the cities considered low risk for the transmission of covid-19. In cities classified as moderate risk, the mask will continue to be required even outdoors. While in those with very low risk, the use indoors is only recommended – being mandatory only for people who have tested positive for the disease.

In Goiás, on March 10, the state government recommended to municipal managers the release of the use of masks in open places, without crowds, in cities where at least 75% of the population aged five and older have already completed the vaccination cycle. The secretariat continues to recommend the use of masks in closed collective environments, such as public transportation, airports, bus stations, schools, and in open environments with crowds, and by immunosuppressed people, with high-risk comorbidities, unvaccinated and with flu symptoms, even when in open places and without crowds.

In November 2021, Maranhão made masks optional in open places and optional in closed areas in municipalities with more than 70% of the population with at least two doses of the vaccine. However, like Rio de Janeiro, the Maranhão government backed down after the number of disease cases increased again at the beginning of this year and resumed the mandatory use of masks indoors in the entire Maranhão territory.

Mato Grosso, on the other hand, delegated to the city halls the power to decide on the obligation in public and private spaces, taking into account the local context. At least 40 locations in Mato Grosso have already stopped requiring the item, either in open or closed spaces. In the capital, Cuiabá, however, Mayor Emanuel Pinheiro said, on the last day 8, that he would still maintain the requirement in closed places for a few more days. “Our numbers are highly satisfactory, but they still don’t allow us to remove the masks,” he said. “The tendency is, in a few days, to put it as optional, and each citizen will decide the best way to defend themselves, to protect themselves and their family from covid-19,” he added.

The government of Mato Grosso do Sul released the state’s cities to decree the end of the obligation for closed environments on March 10. As in other cases, the decision does not prevent city halls from maintaining stricter measures if they deem necessary.

In Santa Catarina, the state government published a decree on March 12 removing the obligation for municipalities to require for using the mask in open or closed places. However, the state government warns that, in places where it is impossible to keep the distance, such as public transportation, hospitals, and health centers, protection is still “highly recommended due to the risk of disease transmission”.

The government of São Paulo maintains the mandatory use of masks indoors, but, on the 9th, released the São Paulo city halls to make masks in open spaces optional. The release is valid for streets, squares, parks, schoolyards, soccer stadiums, open event centers, and racetracks. When detailing the measure, Governor João Doria mentioned plans to extend the release to indoor environments as of March 23 – a measure still under study.

With information from Agência Brasil