State of São Paulo announces 30 test events to adjust Covid-19 protocols

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The government of São Paulo announced on Wednesday, July 7, that it would hold 30 test events starting on July 17. The protocols for holding public events include vaccination, reduced capacity, testing, and wearing masks.

“With the improvement of pandemic indicators, we will take a new step in the economic recovery in the State of São Paulo, and we will start to monitor 30 events in the areas of culture, business, leisure, sports, and tourism.

The events will be held with mandatory testing and vaccinated people, in addition to maintaining strict health protocols for security, control, and monitoring of participants,” said the governor of the state of São Paulo João Doria (PSDB).

The measure’s goal is to adjust, based on real situations, the rules that will enable the resumption of one of the sectors most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, which employs millions of Brazilians.

According to the Secretary of Economic Development of the State of São Paulo, Patricia Ellen, there will be monitoring after the events to follow the impact in relation to the contagion of the new coronavirus.

The government’s idea is to hold events from different sectors of the economy. There will be 14 social events, 12 creative economy events, 2 sports events, and 2 business events. The proposal counts on the participation of associations from the events sector and private companies.

The first test event will be Expo Retomada in Santos. In August, there will be the street race “Volta SP 10 km” and the São Paulo Formula 1 GP in November. Night events with live music are also planned.

Despite not including the return of the public to soccer stadiums in the test events plan, in an interview with the podcast “Inteligência Ltda” on Monday, 5, Doria projected that the return of fans to the stadiums in São Paulo might occur soon. “Probably starting in October, with gradually expanded capacity. It will increase,” stated the governor.