Northeast Brazilian Governors Call for International Flight Suspension

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Northeast Consortium, a group of governors from Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte and Sergipe, urged Minister of Health Eduardo Pazuello to suspend immediately all flights to or from the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia.

In the letter, released on Wednesday, December 23rd, but sent to the Ministry of Health on Tuesday afternoon, the group also suggests that the federal government demand that all passengers coming from other European countries should be quarantined and that, during the isolation period, they should perform RT-PCR tests.

The request comes after a new mutation of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) was detected in the United Kingdom. “It is with deep concern that the governors of Northeastern Brazil received the news of a mutation of the virus causing Covid-19 and the chance that its variants are more contagious and more lethal,” says the consortium in a letter signed by Governor Wellington Dias, the group’s chairman.

The Ministry of Health reported that as of next Wednesday, December 30th, the entry of foreigners of any nationality into Brazil by road, port and airport will be restricted, according to Ordinance 630/2020, although it has not yet decided to suspend flights as the governors request.

Before boarding, travelers will need to provide the airline with a document attesting that they are negative for Covid-19 (RT-PCR test).

In light of this new coronavirus variant, the Ministry has also implemented a new protocol for the entry of people from the United Kingdom. The emergency guidelines include monitoring and contact tracing measures for passengers and crew who fly to Brazil from the UK, or who have recently been to the European country.

“The joint effort with the ports and airports health inspectors and with the notification of passengers and crew from the United Kingdom, the National Surveillance, Alert and Response Network to Health Emergencies (CIEVS Network) will liaise with the local authorities to monitor health conditions and direct them to health care, as well as health surveillance, for the adoption of measures to prevent and control Covid-19,” the portfolio said.

Moreover for passengers coming from the United Kingdom, the portfolio’s guideline is to self-isolate for at least ten days.

In cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) with any criteria for Covid-19 confirmed, the guideline is isolation, which can be suspended after 20 days from the onset of symptoms or after ten days with a negative RT-qPCR result, provided that the patient has gone 24 hours without taking antipyretics and has shown remission of respiratory symptoms, through medical assessment.

People referred for isolation should continue wearing masks whenever in contact with other residents, despite adopting the recommended social distance of at least one meter.

During this time it is also important to guide the isolated patient to clean and disinfect surfaces, as recommended by ANVISA.

“So far, there is insufficient evidence to determine if the variant [of the novel coronavirus] has any impact on the severity of the disease, antibody response, transmission, performance of diagnostic tests or vaccine efficacy,” stressed the Ministry of Health.

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