Dispensing of masks in barracks is guided by Army units

Army units guided the waiver of the use of masks inside the barracks, and soldiers from the Southeast Command already work in person without protective equipment against the coronavirus.

THE sheet confirmed the information with generals who command troops in São Paulo and in barracks where the mask has been an expendable element for at least a week.

The Army Social Communication Center, in Brasília, and the advice of the Southeast Military Command, in São Paulo, did not respond to questions in the report about the orientation for masks to stop being used by the military. Questions were asked on Thursday (3) and Friday (4).

According to the report of the military, the guidance passed on was not only a recommendation, but a determination so that masks are no longer used in specific situations. These are the cases of graduations and guards held inside the barracks.

The order did not come from the commander of the Army, General Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira, nor was there a deliberation on the matter by the High Command of the Force, according to sources heard by the report.

The military commander of the Southeast is General Tomás Miguel Paiva, who is part of the Army High Command.

Dispensing with a mask contravenes a regulation issued by the Army commander, who prepared and released a document, finalized on January 3, with 52 guidelines to be followed by management bodies and area military commands.

“Protective measures such as social distancing, the use of physical barrier measures (use of masks) and hand hygiene must be observed”, says item 11 of the document.

President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) is against social distancing and the use of masks, criticizes vaccines and defends the use of drugs with no proven effectiveness to treat Covid, especially chloroquine.

The orientation to stop wearing masks pleases the president.

Bolsonaro was uncomfortable with the guidelines issued in January by the army commander, especially number 22, which conditioned the return of military personnel to face-to-face activity to vaccination against Covid. Immunization is not mandatory in the barracks, unlike vaccines for yellow fever, tetanus, hepatitis B and other diseases.

Despite the condition established for the return to face-to-face work, there are reservations present in the document. “Omitted cases on vaccination coverage should be submitted to the DGP for consideration [Departamento Geral do Pessoal]for the adoption of specific procedures”, cites the document of the Army commander.

The Army leadership needed to explain to Bolsonaro that the directive was not different from a rule edited in November 2021 by the Minister of Defense, General Walter Braga Netto, and that the Covid vaccine was optional, without being mandatory.

The flexibility in the use of masks inside the barracks occurs at a time of movement among the military at the top, with an eye on the possibility of changes in the Bolsonaro government.

The president is considering Braga Netto to be his vice-president in the race for reelection, replacing General Hamilton Mourão. If this materializes, the positions of Minister of Defense and even that of Army Commander could become vacant, if the president decides to name Oliveira to be minister, as members of the Force expect.

From a technical point of view, the dispensation of masks occurs in the midst of immunization rates lower than those observed among adolescents and the adult population in general, such as the sheet showed in an article published on the 21st.

On January 24, the Army reported, based on a request made via LAI (Access to Information Law), that 32% of active duty military personnel had not been immunized with the two doses of the vaccine. This represented 67,500 members of the Army without the first complete cycle of immunization against Covid.

Among adolescents and the adult population in general, the rate of non-vaccinated with both doses was 17.4% on January 24, according to data from the press consortium formed by sheetUOL, O Estado de S. Paulo, Extra, O Globo and G1.

Generals who command troops in São Paulo told the report that there is no requirement to dispense with a mask and that the equipment can be used by anyone who so desires. The commands follow the current health regulations, according to these soldiers.

Since May 2020, the use of a mask throughout the state of São Paulo, where the vast majority of units of the Southeast Military Command are located, has been mandatory. Governor João Doria (PSDB) prepares a statement on the end of the mandatory use of masks in open environments from Wednesday (9).

Flexibility of this type, in open environments, has been taking place in other states. The city of Rio de Janeiro has already released the use of masks in open and closed environments, as decided this Monday (7).