RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Saturday, the governor of São Paulo, João Doria, ordered a statewide quarantine starting on Tuesday due to the coronavirus crisis. The measure should be in effect until April 7th but may be extended for a longer period.
Bars, restaurants, and all non-essential establishments should be closed. “These businesses will need to be creative, use delivery to preserve their revenue and staff,” said the governor. Doria emphasized that people who can “should stay at home,” although the quarantine does not force the population to restrict their movement.
“The time is to remain with family,” he said. Gas stations, industries, supermarkets, and drugstores will continue to operate, as well as health services, cleaning, and banks. Public transport will continue to work.
The announcement of the quarantine was made shortly after the announcement of six more deaths in São Paulo, which on Saturday totaled 15 people killed by the coronavirus. The number of confirmed cases reached 396.
“These new deaths include four women, aged 89, 76, 89 and 73, and two men: one aged 90 and the other aged 49 – since the 49-year-old was a tuberculosis patient, which is a “very significant comorbidity in this situation,” said José Henrique Germann, Secretary of Health.
One of the victims was a doctor working for the city government, who had been hospitalized after Carnaval for another health condition, and who later tested positive for the coronavirus.
David Uip, the coordinator of the state’s pandemic response center, added that some initial symptoms resemble the flu, but that the picture can rapidly evolve into pneumonia. The doctor also commented on the still experimental use of chloroquine in the treatment of the disease: the medicine has been used for years to treat malaria and autoimmune diseases.
In Brazil, several hospitals in the private network have been testing the drug. “Some researches point to positive results from the use of chloroquine,” said Uip. “But so far studies have been conducted with few patients.
One of this drug’s greatest enthusiasts is US President Donald Trump. After he mentioned that chloroquine could cure patients with coronavirus, the drug has disappeared from Brazilian pharmacies, threatening patients who use it routinely. To avoid shortages, the National Health Surveillance Agency has determined that the medication can only be sold by prescription.
Criticism of Bolsonaro
Doria said on Saturday that he would “toughen” repression of funk dances held in the outskirts of São Paulo, and called their organizers “irresponsible”.
“Now is not the time to party, to have funk dances. Stay home,” he said. The governor said the State Police is “directed to act firmly and decisively, evidently within the protocol, to prevent demonstrations of this nature from happening”.
About the ban on religious services and masses by a court ruling on Friday evening, neither Doria nor the mayor of São Paulo, Bruno Covas, made any comment. It is up to them to ensure that churches and temples remain closed. The governor asked the people to “pray at home”.
When asked about Bolsonaro’s statement that the coronavirus is nothing more than a “flu,” Doria said he was “saddened,” and didn’t resist a sly dig at his potential rival in the race for the Planalto in 2022. “I would like to have a president who would lead the country in a crisis like this, and not downplay such a severe issue,” he said.
The governor also disagreed with Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who said on Friday that the health system would “collapse” due to the pandemic.
“We will not see a collapse here in São Paulo, that I can assure,” said Doria, stressing that governors and mayors will work together and with the help of the federal government to prevent such a collapse.
Source: El Pais