Belém, capital of Pará state, and its metropolitan region go into lockdown today
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – As of 9 PM on Monday, March 15th, the five municipalities in the metropolitan region of Belém will go into lockdown, with only essential services working. The measure was announced yesterday evening, March 14th, by the governor of Pará, Helder Barbalho, and will be in effect initially for 7 days.
In order to contain the spread of the covid-19 pandemic in the capital city of Pará, the measure is applicable to Belém and the municipalities of Ananindeua, Benevides, Marituba and Santa Barbara. In these black-flagged locations, only one member of each household will be allowed to attend commercial establishments and elective surgeries have been deferred until the end of March.
While the black flag is in force, only supermarkets, banks, pharmacies, lottery stores, and street markets will be open. The rest of Pará continues in the red phase. The governor also announced the suspension of the Pará state soccer championship.
According to the government of Pará, ICU bed occupancy in the state stands at 83%. In Belém, the situation is more critical, with 98% of clinical beds and 89% of ICU beds occupied. According to the Ministry of Health, 46 people died in the state on Saturday alone, raising to 9,290 the total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Source: Globo
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