São Paulo says it is difficult to prevent unvaccinated travelers from leaving quarantine

The Municipal Health Department of São Paulo states that it will be difficult to ensure that travelers without a vaccine against Covid-19 are actually quarantined, according to a rule published on Thursday (9) in the Official Gazette.

The capital of São Paulo, even so, intends to monitor these people to prevent them from circulating in the city.

The five-day quarantine for those who arrive in Brazil and do not present proof of vaccination starts to apply this Saturday (11). The measure was defended by Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) and faced resistance from President Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

The monitoring information was given by Mayor Ricardo Nunes (MDB) and by the Health Ministry holder, Edson Aparecido, during an interview on Thursday after the inauguration of an UPA (Emergency Service Unit) on Avenida Vergueiro, in the central region of the capital.

In São Paulo, according to Aparecido, there will not be a specific place for quarantine of those who have the capital of São Paulo as their final destination. Those arriving from abroad without vaccine may stay at patients’ homes or in hotels. “But we go daily to the places chosen by these people to be isolated,” he said.

The secretary said that it will not be possible to prevent these unvaccinated travelers from walking around the city, but the secretariat teams will advise them to respect the five-day isolation set by the federal government.

“The ideal would be 14 days [de isolamento], but within five days, a PCR test will be needed to be released from quarantine,” stated the secretary.

According to Aparecido, the city will use the experience of sanitary barriers adopted in the city during the emergence of the delta variant, when people with symptoms of Covid-19 were guided and monitored.

For the time being, the city has ruled out re-implementing sanitary barriers at bus terminals and at Congonhas airport, in the southern zone, because of the omicron variant. The measure was adopted from May to October. In these five months, teams from Covisa (Health Surveillance Coordination) approached 801,106 people at three bus stations and at the airport.

The mayor recalled the missionary couple identified last week with the micron to say that the city can monitor those who arrive without a vaccine passport. “We have a very strong structure in the city. On the same day of identification, the secretariat team was at the relatives’ house where they stayed, accompanying and testing the people around us,” he said.

According to Aparecido, the couple was tested again this Wednesday (8) and no longer has the disease. “They can now go back to Africa, where they are both missionaries, if they want,” he said.

The 41-year-old man and the 37-year-old woman stayed at the patients’ home in São Paulo. All residents of the property did not have Covid-19, according to tests pointed out, and followed up.

Nunes praised the measure taken by the Jair Bolsonaro government, after pressure from Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) to control those arriving in the country because of the emergence of the micron variant of the new coronavirus. “This decision by the federal government, which was reluctant to recognize the vaccine passport, is important,” he said.

Ordinance

From next Saturday (11), new rules for the entry of travelers into Brazil will come into effect. Those who arrive on international flights and are not immunized against Covid-19 will have to present the disease test, carried out up to 72 hours before boarding, and comply with a five-day quarantine. At the land border, proof of vaccination or negative test will be required.

The norms are contained in an ordinance published this Thursday (9) in the Official Gazette of the Union, signed by ministers Ciro Nogueira (Casa Civil), Marcelo Queiroga (Health), Anderson Torres (Justice) and Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas (Infrastructure).

The existence of omicron was reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 24th after the emergence of cases in South Africa. Since then, there has been confirmation of infections caused by omicron in the five continents.

“Given the mutations that could confer the ability to escape an immune response, and give it an advantage in terms of transmissibility, the probability that the omicron will propagate around the world is high,” the organization said on the 29th.

On the same day, health ministers from G7 countries warned that the variant requires urgent action. “The international community faces the threat of a new highly transmissible variant of Covid-19, which requires urgent action,” the ministers said in a joint statement.