Covid-19: Governor of Brazil’s Federal District wants to disoblige mask use in open environments

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The governor of the Federal District (DF), Ibaneis Rocha (MDB), wants the use of masks against Covid-19 no longer to be mandatory in open environments from November 15.

Ibaneis said on Monday, October 25, however, that there is no date to relax the protection in closed places. The use of masks has been mandatory in DF since April last year.

“We know that it is advancing a lot, the transmission rates are dropping a lot. This already gives us a horizon in the sense of releasing the use of masks at least in open environments,” said the governor. “Later on, when we reach around 70%, 80% of people vaccinated, we will think — all of this on a technical basis — about removing the masks in closed environments.”

The number of those vaccinated with the 2nd dose or single dose had reached the rate of 59.96% of the population over 12 years old by today. A total of 86.84% had taken the 1st dose of the Covid-19 immunization.

The transmission rate of the disease in DF has been falling for about two weeks. This Sunday, 24, the epidemiological bulletin pointed out that the index scored 0.80. This means that 100 people can transmit covid to 80. A rate above 1 indicates that the pandemic is advancing.

The flexibilization of the use of masks has been discussed by numerous Brazilian states and cities. In Rio de Janeiro, Mayor Eduardo Paes (PSD) stated that the city might dispense with them in the middle of November, if 75% of the total population is fully vaccinated. The trend is that it will be allowed not to wear it outdoors starting this week.

In São Paulo, the state government has ruled out, for now, any suspension of the obligation to wear masks, “even though the numbers are very positive”.

The state government is considering maintaining the mandatory use of face masks for specific situations even after the pandemic.