Queiroga stops wearing a mask after flexibility in the DF

The Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, appeared without a mask at the Ministry of Health this Monday (14). He said that the easing of mask use in states is related to the slowdown of the new coronavirus pandemic.

The minister dropped this item due to the decree of Governor Ibaneis Rocha, which made its use more flexible in the Federal District. By rule, the mask is no longer mandatory in open and closed places. Other states and municipalities have also implemented the flexibility.

“This is due to the slowdown of the pandemic in Brazil. In many states there is already control, as is the case of the city of Rio de Janeiro, state of São Paulo. And the states are making the use of masks more flexible. The Federal Supreme Court gave powers to states and municipalities to deal with this issue together with the Union”, said the minister.

“So we are working together with states and municipalities to put an end to these restrictive measures that bother people, but that were certainly important in combating the pandemic,” he continued.

However, the minister stressed that immunosuppressed and elderly people, who are more likely to develop severe forms of the disease, should be more cautious with non-pharmacological measures.

Queiroga started to make it a priority to downgrade the status of Covid-19 from a pandemic (when there is a situation of global health emergency) to endemic (stage of coexistence with the virus, with a stable number of cases and deaths).

The idea had already been discussed in the portfolio, but gained momentum after President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) publicly supported the change in the status of the health crisis.

Department technicians were tasked with monitoring the impact of Carnival parties on the disease, in addition to other indicators, such as vaccination coverage, and delivering in the second half of the month an analysis of the Covid scenario in Brazil.

Health must decide on the change by the end of this month.

as showed the sheet, the minister’s main idea is to find a way to defend the end of restrictions against the virus, such as the mandatory use of masks. Queiroga has also told allies that he wants to be recognized as the manager who ended the health crisis in Brazil.

But the change mainly comes up against the approval for emergency use of vaccines and medicines, which could end with the end of the health crisis. Health’s legal team assesses whether it is possible to set up an exceptional rule to keep these products in use.

Queiroga said this Monday that he needs to analyze all the rules before making any decision.

“We are going to do it responsibly, dialoguing with the authorities. Many measures were edited on account of the health measure and we cannot interrupt the public policies that, after all, were what allowed them to reach the current stage”, highlighted Queiroga.