São Paulo Governor Speaks of Fines, Imprisonment If Isolation Fails to Meet Target

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Earlier, the Governor had already stated that the rate of people complying with quarantine to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in the state is dropping. According to the governor, fines and even prison sentences will be applied if levels fail to improve.

“We’ll do the test this weekend. If we do not raise the level of people in quarantine – which today is 50 percent – to 60 percent and move to 70 percent as of Monday, April 13th, not only the state government but also the city of São Paulo, will enforce stricter measures”.

“I wanted to avoid this because it means that people will not only be given warnings, but also fines and imprisonment. I wish I could avoid this. People need to be conscious,” he said in an interview.

He added: “Social isolation is not a holiday. People need to realize this. Traveling from the capital or metropolitan region to the interior or coast is not enough to be safe. Rather the opposite, you are increasing the potential for risk in these regions. We are not proposing isolation as a holiday schedule”.

On Monday, April 6th, the governor extended the quarantine because of Covid-19 to April 22nd. He also said he will deploy the State Police to strengthen social isolation.

Isolation has been weakening, both in the state and in the capital of São Paulo. Since Jair Bolsonaro’s first statement against quarantining the entire population, the flow of cars and people on the streets has increased.

Banks have been the largest crowding points. At least three banking networks have reported daily queues and clusters of people outside their branches in São Paulo capital.

The state government has already announced that it will use cell phones to monitor whether people are crowding. A system, developed in agreement with the four cell phone operators – Oi, Tim, Claro, and Vivo – will monitor and locate crowds forming in the whole state of São Paulo.

Source: UOL