Belo Horizonte recommends return of masks indoors

The Prefecture of Belo Horizonte issued a recommendation for the population to wear masks from this Friday (3) in closed environments. The decision took place in the face of the increase in cases of Covid-19 and vaccination below expectations.

In a statement, the city government said it had sent a letter to the Municipal Department of Education so that protection is used in public and private schools, “especially” in classrooms. He highlighted, however, that the decision will be up to the educational institutions.

The same guidelines apply to cinemas, theaters, bars, restaurants and offices, for example.

The use of the mask in Belo Horizonte was no longer mandatory in most closed environments on April 28. Protection continues to be required on public transport and in healthcare facilities.

The management of Fuad Noman (PSD) states that it decided to recommend the use of masks in closed places because there was a tendency to increase the incidence of Covid-19 accumulated, per group of 100,000 inhabitants, in the 14 days prior to the date on which it is disclosed.

According to municipal data, the rate was 107.2 per 100,000 inhabitants on May 30. On May 10, that number was 47.6 per 100,000 inhabitants.

“Although so far there is no change in the indicator related to lethality, the changes in the rules are a fundamental strategy for coping with the disease in the municipality”, says the city hall.

Regarding vaccination, the latest data made available by the municipality, also relating to May 30, show a rate of application of second doses well below that of first doses among children.

As per the information, 81.3% of the population aged 5 to 11 years received the first dose. The second was applied to only 54.9% of the population in this age group.

Data from the municipality show that, in relation to the total population, 94.9% of people living in the city took the first dose, or a single dose, while the second was administered to 87% of the inhabitants of the municipality.

The prefecture says that the omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to circulate predominantly in the city. “Although the cases are less serious, the adoption of non-pharmacological measures remains essential for the prevention of Covid-19”, says the prefecture.

parallel bulletin

Infectious disease doctors who were part of the city hall’s Covid-19 committee announced the creation of a parallel bulletin to monitor the disease in the capital.

An official bulletin was produced daily by the city hall, but its frequency and number of data have been reduced since March 31. On the same date, the committee, which was formed by volunteer doctors, was extinguished, after the non-renewal of a decree that determined a public calamity situation in the city because of the disease.

The group worked for about two years throughout the pandemic, during the management of Alexandre Kalil (PSD), who left the city hall to run for governor of Minas Gerais.

One of the infectologists who participated in the committee and who will be part of the preparation of the parallel bulletin, Unaí Tupinambás, says it is important to provide more information to raise awareness of society regarding the disease.

“We are concerned about the number of cases,” he says. The infectious disease specialists Carlos Starling and Estevão Urbano also participated in the committee extinct by the city hall and will now produce the bulletin.

One of the data that the city government failed to publish in its bulletins was the one that indicates the average number of transmissions per infected person, that is, how many people someone who has the disease can contaminate. The bulletin also failed to show the percentage of occupancy of ICUs.

Initially, the group intends to publish the parallel bulletin based on data from the state government. He will also ask the city for the data via the Access to Information Law.

Representatives of unions and associations will disseminate the material on social networks. The release of the report takes place this Friday afternoon at the Union of Journalists, in Belo Horizonte.

The city government did not take a position on the initiative.