Doria to Extend Quarantine in São Paulo From June 1st

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – The governor of São Paulo, João Doria, said on Monday, May 25th, that he will decree a new extension of quarantine from June 1st, when the deadline he defined on May 8th for shutting down non-essential activities throughout the state expires.

Doria said that the next quarantine period will be varied around the state, depending on the degree of contamination in cities and regions. The details will be announced at a press conference scheduled for Wednesday morning, May 27th. “Of course we will have another quarantine, but in an intelligent way and not in a uniform way, as is being done,” he said.

The governor had already announced a plan to relax the quarantine, which had its implementation deferred in early May due to the increase in the curve of confirmed cases in the state. Among the measures to restart activities that would be announced by the government under the project called São Paulo Plan – and applicable to the whole state – are the reopening of movie theaters with limited seats using the “chessboard” technique (alternating occupied seats with empty seats), ticket scanning system to prevent contact with staff and the sale of drinks and food in sealed packages only.

In parks, restrictive measures include permission for individual physical activities or in groups of people living in the same household. The use of benches will be prohibited. In beauty salons, the reopening will have reduced staff and mandatory use of shoe cleaning mechanism with sodium hypochlorite before entering the establishment.

In gyms, access will be limited to one client for every 4m². The rules were based on established practices in countries such as the United States, Germany, and Denmark. The resumption plan is being managed by Doria’s economic team and led by Patricia Ellen, Economic Development Secretary.

To increase the rate of social isolation, a six-day holiday has been decreed in the capital of São Paulo in anticipation of three commemorative dates – two municipal and one state. The measure was introduced to increase the isolation rates throughout the state, which stand at around 50 percent, below the 70 percent recommended by medical authorities to flatten the curve of new cases.

However, the holiday had little impact on social isolation, which reached a peak of 56 percent on Sunday, May 24th, according to state government data.

According to the National Health Council’s (CNS) recommendation, states and municipalities should decree a lockdown, a more strict social isolation system, in places with high levels of contamination that fail to reach the 60 percent mark.

Doria ruled out the prospect of tightening isolation measures days after São Paulo Mayor Bruno Covas publicly considered the option. Doria said that he met with Covas on Sunday and that they had reached an agreement to avoid a lockdown in São Paulo.

The State of São Paulo is one of the most affected by the coronavirus in the whole country. By this weekend, the state had recorded over 83,600 confirmed cases and 6,220 deaths caused by the disease, which represents 27 percent of the total deaths nationwide.

Source: Veja