Government recommends dispensing masks at work in places with few Covid cases

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The federal government recommended dispensing with the use of masks in work environments in states and municipalities with a “low” or “moderate” number of Covid cases.

The changes were made in a joint ordinance of the Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Health published this Friday (1st) in the Official Gazette of the Union.

The text also recommends protection for workers aged 60 or over who “present risk clinical conditions” for Covid.

This is the first change in rules on the health crisis since President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and Minister Marcelo Queiroga (Health) promised to end the pandemic in Brazil.

as showed the sheet, the minister modulated the speech and began to aim at the end of more lenient rules when he was warned that he did not have this power within his reach. Who declares the end of the pandemic (when there is a situation of global health emergency) is the WHO (World Health Organization.

According to members of Saúde, the text only gives greater security to states that have already made the use of masks more flexible, such as São Paulo.

The recommendation is still to charge masks in places where the physical distance of at least one meter cannot be implemented, except in states and municipalities that have already released protection.

The new rule also recommends taking workers diagnosed with Covid out of work for up to ten days. This period can be shortened to seven days for those who no longer have symptoms. Isolation can be reduced to five days in cases where the infection is ruled out by RT-PCR, RT-Lamp or antigen exam.

The text also states that it is not mandatory to remove vaccinated workers who have had contact with confirmed cases of Covid. For those who are not immunized, the orientation is to stay away for up to ten days. The rules to shorten this isolation are the same as those applied to confirmed cases.

The new ordinance cites “alert levels” that must be observed to dispense or not the masks.

At low (less than 25 cases per 100,000 people in 14 days) and moderate levels (from 25 to 150 cases per 100,000 people in 14 days) the guideline is to make the use of protection more flexible.

For places with high levels (from 151 to 499 cases per 100,000 people in 14 days) and very high (more than 500 cases per 100,000 people in 14 days) the government recommends keeping the mask.

Despite not being able to end the pandemic, Queiroga can end the Espin status (Public Health Emergency of National Importance), recognized in February 2020. This would be the main way to empty restrictions against Covid, such as the use of masks.

But the minister was also warned that revoking Espin has a high cost, because it is this scenario that supports the guarantee for the emergency use of vaccines, purchases without bidding and other rules related to the pandemic.

Due to these risks, the government backed off from the promise of sudden changes in the rules on the health crisis until the end of March.

Queiroga said on Wednesday (30) that the ministry was working to “harmonize” measures that are already being taken by states and municipalities, such as releasing the use of masks in some places. He also acknowledged that he will not have the power to compel a public manager to revoke rules on the use of protection.

The idea in the government is still to revoke some rules considered unnecessary, in addition to overturning the charge for the Covid-19 detection test of vaccinated passengers entering Brazil.

The expectation is that the change in border control will be published next Monday (4).

On March 3, the president published a photo next to Queiroga and said that the minister “is studying to downgrade the Covid-19 situation in Brazil to endemic”.

Bolsonaro reinforced the idea, which is not within the reach of the Brazilian government, on the 16th. .

as showed the sheetafter desiccating the promise to end the pandemic, Health started to aim at the repeal of rules that are considered unnecessary at this moment, in which Covid cases and deaths are falling, such as the restriction to export medicines, oxygen and others health items.

The end of charging for Covid tests to vaccinated travelers should take effect at airports and at land and water borders. The changes were suggested by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) last week. The final decision will be made official in an ordinance by the Ministry of Health, the Civil House, the Ministry of Justice and Infrastructure.

According to the current rule, anyone who enters Brazil by international flight must present a negative result in a test for Covid and a vaccination certificate. If not vaccinated, in addition to presenting the test, the passenger must carry out a quarantine of up to 14 days. This isolation can be waived from the fifth day onwards, as long as the traveler is asymptomatic.

The idea now is to dispense with the quarantine of unvaccinated people who test negative on boarding.

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