Brazil on Lockdown: New Rules for Most Heavily Affected Cities

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Despite not being the epicenter of the novel coronavirus in Brazil, a number of northern and northeastern states stepped forward and were the first to implement a lockdown, the total blocking of activities, as a strategy to fight the advance of the pandemic in the regions.

Last week they decreed the total isolation of the following states: Maranhão, governed by Flávio Dino; Pará, governed by Hélder Barbalho; and Ceará, governed by Camilo Santana.

Maranhão

Flávio Dino had been giving indications since mid-April that he was preparing for the worst-case scenario of the pandemic: “I have a ready-made lockdown decree if ICU bed occupancy reaches 80 percent,” he said two weeks ago.

Last week, the capital of São Luís reached 100 percent of the state hospitals’ ICU capacity, which led the Maranhão Prosecutor’s Office to jump ahead of the governor and call upon the city’s courts for a total lockdown.

The request was granted and, in addition to the capital, three other municipalities (São José de Ribamar, Paço do Lumiar and Raposa) also went on lockdown for at least ten days.

“There was a convergence between our expert studies, the Prosecutor’s Office bringing a legal claim and the judge ruling in its favor. A happy convergence, I’d say. And we decided not to appeal,” Dino said in an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, May 5th.

The residents in these regions can only leave home to buy food, medicine, and cleaning supplies. All access to the island has been blocked, except for medical personnel, ambulances, police vehicles and trucks and buses carrying essential personnel and supplies.

Only essential services workers are allowed to continue moving. They are required to bear an essential service statement, issued by companies. Checkpoints will perform spot checks. Those traveling unauthorized will first be guided by the police and, should they not comply with the rules, they may be escorted to a police station.

The government does not rule out extending the restrictions for longer. Maranhão is the state with the sixth-most Covid-19 cases, with 4,530 confirmed and 271 deaths by Tuesday, May 5th.

Pará

Governor Hélder Barbalho announced that as of Thursday, May 7th, a lockdown in ten of the state’s municipalities most affected by Covid-19 will be initiated. They are Belém, Ananindeua, Marituba, Benevides, Santa Bárbara, Santa Izabel do Pará, Castanhal, Santo Antônio do Tauá, Vigia de Nazaré, and Breves.

The decree runs until May 17th, and for the first three days there will be “educational measures”; from Sunday, May 10th, authorities may fine those who violate the lockdown, which for individuals will be R$150 and R$50,000 for businesses.

“The drastic moment has come for us to act to save our people’s lives,” explained the governor.

Citizens will be banned from leaving their homes unless they are wearing protective masks, and outings will only be allowed for essential activities, such as buying food, medicines, and for work, in the case of those who exercise essential trades.

The criteria for determining which cities would be completely locked down was to select those with at least 75 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 inhabitants. According to the latest updates, the state currently has 97.4 percent of its ICU beds filled.

Pará is the state with the seventh-most records of the disease. There are 4,472 confirmed cases and 369 deaths.

Ceará

One of the first states to suffer the collapse of its public health care system, with virtually all ICU beds filled, Ceará announced that its capital Fortaleza will go into lockdown as of Friday, May 8th. The measure is effective for 20 days.

During this period, people are banned from traveling except to buy food, cleaning products, and medication; seek medical or veterinary care; care for the elderly or children, activities considered essential.

Private vehicles will also be banned unless used in authorized cases, and there will be blockades at the entrances and exits of Fortaleza. In addition, the use of masks will be mandatory in any outdoor activities.

Elsewhere in the state, where a total blockade will not be enforced, the isolation decree will be extended for another 15 days.

So far, Fortaleza has 97 percent of its ICU beds filled and the remainder of the state has 87 percent. Ceará is the state with the third-most Covid-19 cases, with 11,470 infected people and 795 deaths.

States on the verge of lockdown

Pernambuco, governed by Paulo Câmara, has already signaled that it will enforce a lockdown but has not yet formalized the measure. On Monday, May 4th, the governor met with representatives of the Executive, Judiciary and Legislative branches to discuss how to implement the measure.

According to the Pernambuco government, only the final adjustments to the lockdown rules are lacking for the total lockdown to become effective. The plan is expected to be ready soon. The main concern is with the Greater Recife region, which accounts for 90 percent of the most severe cases and 85 percent of deaths from coronavirus in Pernambuco.

In Amazonas, where the health and funeral system in Manaus collapsed over two weeks ago, the Prosecutor’s Office filed a motion to enjoin Governor Wilson Miranda Lima to enforce a lockdown, at least in the state capital.

The petition calls on the courts to order, within 24 hours, that the measure be enforced for at least ten days. There is still no judicial ruling on the petition.

The Mayor of São Paulo, Bruno Covas, announced that his administration is examining the possibility of a lockdown with an effective ban on the circulation of people. Covas alerted to the Municipal Health Secretariat’s finding that the capital of São Paulo is increasingly close to the peak of Covid-19 infection.

Source: Reuters