The decree allows cities in Rio to make the use of masks more flexible

The Governor of Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Castro (PL), publish decree This Thursday (3) allowing state counties to make the use of masks against COVID-19 more flexible, with their own standard procedures. With this measure, the use of personal protective equipment may not be mandatory even in enclosed spaces, as it is still required until now.

The decision was made, with immediate effect, without consulting the scientific committee of the Ministry of Health of Rio. However, the text indicates that a new normative act may still be in place by the state government, and that mandatory masking must be held by municipalities in places designated by the Secretary of State.

Ibañes Rocha (MDB), also Governor of the Federal District Announced this Thursday (3) that the use of masks will be more flexible in open spaces in the capital, starting from Monday (7). “To participate in shows and sporting events, proof of vaccination with at least two doses and use of a mask when held indoors will be required. We are slowly returning to normal life’,” he wrote on social media.

In Santa Catarina, the state government on Wednesday (2) published an ordinance leaving it up to parents or guardians to use individual protection Children aged 6 to 12 years, in a school environment or other settings. Criticize the decision before The Santa Catarina Education Workers Union: “This measure puts the entire school community at risk and further exposes children to the coronavirus.“Entity said in a note.

Flexibility to use masks is carried out in conjunction with the Ministry of Health Study for change Classification of covid-19 in the country from pandemic to endemic, President Jair Bolsonaro said Thursday (3). Endemic diseases are those that are always present and remain stable over time. In general, these are diseases that societies learn to deal with. Dengue fever in Brazil, for example, is endemic, although at some periods there are peaks in cases of the disease.

The change in status from pandemic to endemic covid-19 occurred in countries such as Denmark and the United Kingdom after a peak in cases caused by the omicron variant. However, some experts still consider the change in classification to be hasty in Brazil. “We should have a much lower number of cases than we had [durante toda a pandemia] He said its maintenance for months or years” the Nexus Regina Kemp, Technical Adviser to the Municipal Health Board of Trustees of São Paulo and member of the COVID-19 Observatory BR.