RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro today referred a bill (PL) to the National Congress setting out health measures to fight the coronavirus and rules for the return to the country and quarantine of Brazilian citizens in the city of Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the epidemic. The message was published in a special edition of the Federal Gazette.
In the same publication, the Ministry of Health increased the health alert level from imminent danger to public health emergency in the case of the coronavirus. The decree further establishes the setting up of the Public Health Emergency Operations Center as the national response management tool for the coronavirus emergency at the national level.
On January 30th, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak as a global public health emergency. More than 400 people have died in China and 20,000 have been infected by the new virus. In Brazil, 14 patients are being monitored for suspected infection, so far no cases have been confirmed.
Yesterday, February 3rd, Henrique Mandetta, the Minister of Health, said there is still no fixed date for the flight that will bring the approximately 40 Brazilians from Wuhan. The return, he said, applies only to Brazilians who are in that region, which is in lockdown, as those outside the city are entitled to come and go and may leave China without government support.
As soon as they land in Brazil, they should be placed in quarantine, according to international procedures, under the guidance of the Ministry of Health. Quarantine will last 18 days. The government is considering the option of this quarantine period being carried out at a military base in Anapólis (GO) and another in Florianópolis (SC).
Coronavirus History
Coronaviruses have been known since the mid-1960s and have been associated with other global events in recent years. In 2002, a variant generated an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that also broke out in China and affected over 8,000 people. In 2012, a new coronavirus triggered a respiratory syndrome in the Middle East called MERS.
The current outbreak was identified on January 7th. The World Health Organization (WHO) office in China was looking for answers to cases of a hitherto unknown type of pneumonia affecting residents in the city of Wuhan. On January 11th, a seafood market was identified as the source of the disease. The market was closed by the Chinese government.