Amid the Covid outbreak, Doria avoids announcing restrictions and asks city halls to limit events

The João Doria government (PSDB) announced, this Wednesday (12), that it will recommend to municipalities a 30% reduction in crowded events.

However, the decision will be made by the city halls — with the exception of sporting events, such as the Paulista Football Championship, in which the reduction of the public is a determination.

The Tucana management cited musical events, parties and other activities that generate agglomeration as examples to be decided by the cities.

The information was given at a press conference at Palácio dos Bandeirantes, in Morumbi, to announce measures to combat the coronavirus.

Doria had indicated the day before that there might be restrictions. The governor is a pre-candidate for President of the Republic by the PSDB, and is usually the target of criticism from Bolsonaristas when he announces the tightening of social isolation measures.

“[A] suggestion for municipalities is to reduce the public capacity of events by 30%, but leave it open that this is at the discretion of the municipality. Depending on the epidemiological situation of the municipality, this percentage can be increased”, said doctor João Gabbardo, from the scientific committee of state management.

In addition to the reduction in the public, the government also cited the recommendation to present a vaccination certificate to enter the events.

Responding on why a recommendation in the case of the reduction of the public, Gabbardo stated: “Why is it a recommendation? We understand that municipalities have different situations and face different realities. So we have to leave it also so that the municipality can legislate accordingly with its epidemiological situation. We are a ruler of what is the minimum that must be done and the city halls can expand these restrictions according to the need”.

The doctor said that there is growth in hospitalizations, but still leaving a lower level. “This number is still a number that comes out of a very low base. If we divide the people admitted to the ICU today to our ICU bed capacity it means 13%. We would have an occupancy today of 13% of all ICU beds. Recommendations have to be proportionate to the situation we are experiencing,” he said.

The government’s tone changed only in relation to sporting events, after questioning journalists in the final period of the press conference. In this case, says Doria, it is not a recommendation, but a determination.

Doria stated that it will be valid for January 23, with the return of the Paulista Football Championship. “As for the Paulista Championship, the São Paulo Football Federation was guided in this direction,” he said. “In the case of football, it is up to the state government. It is not a municipal decision. The São Paulo football championship or other sports with the public is an orientation of the SP government. Therefore, it is a determination and must be obeyed by the sports federations “, he explained.

Doria said the guidelines are based on health and science.

On Tuesday (11), the governor had said that there would be new restrictions, but without detailing the matter. “We will obviously have restrictions that have already been presented for agglomeration events”, he said. “Large agglomerations are not recommended, and the scientific committee of the state of São Paulo has already expressed this deliberation.”

The government presented data showing the acceleration of the disease in the state. The daily moving average of new admissions per week increased by 30.1%.

In one day, ICU admissions rose from 1,727 to 1,824. Those admitted to the ward rose from 3,413 to 3,679.

The City of São Paulo informed this Tuesday that the ômicron variant already accounts for 80% of the analyzed samples. According to the Municipal Health Department, of the 105 samples examined by the Butantan Institute, 20 (19.4%) were positive for the delta variant and 85 (80.95%) for the new strain.