Brazil’s Northeast governors call for resumption of use of face masks
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s Northeast governors spoke out against lifting the state of emergency imposed to contain the Covid 19 pandemic.
The decree to reduce the status of the disease in the country was signed Friday (Apr. 22, 2022) by Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga.
With the end of Espin (Public Health Emergency of National Importance) for Covid-19, emergency permits for vaccines and medicines against the disease, such as CoronaVac, and even government procurement may be affected.
(Health subcommittee, TN House, United States)
Local and state regulations related to the state of emergency, such as temporary hiring of professionals, expansion of services, and procurement of supplies, will also need to be reviewed.
Administrations have been given 30 days to adjust.
The Northeast Consortium – an autarky formed by all states in Brazil’s mostly poor and underdeveloped Northeast region- published a document criticizing the measure.
They consider the “excessive flexibility” and classify the change in Covid status as hasty and wrong.
“The scientific evidence shows that it is too early to consider the pandemic over. This means that the Covid-19 virus continues to circulate in the world and that a new variant of concern may emerge and cause new waves of disease,” claims a document written by representatives of this consortium.
The autonomous body cites that more than 14,000 new cases of Covid-19 are still a reality in Brazil, and more than 100 deaths are registered per day, insinuating that new cases of covid-19 and deaths have something to do with mask-wearing.
It concludes that “the excessive relaxation of measures to contain Covid-19 at this time is premature, as it could give the population a false sense of security, leading to new cases and avoidable deaths.
The Consortium assesses the exemption (adopted by several states) for using masks indoors as “a hasty, unnecessary, and misguided measure.”
What science really says about face masks, you can read here. We have listed the 24 most important scientific studies on the subject and made them available to you.
Many advanced countries in Europe left behind all covid measures, including mandatory masks, months ago, and 25 countries worldwide, most of them advanced first world nations, have no entry restrictions, including no compulsory testing for foreigners.
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