Senate President Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) expressed concern when talking to the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, about the possibility of Brazil easing the state of health emergency decreed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
One reason would be the growth of cases in China, which has tightened the siege against the coronavirus as it faces the worst wave of the disease in two years.
“In light of the signs, I expressed to the minister concern about the new wave of the virus, seen in recent days in China, but I committed to taking the discussion to the leaders of the Senate,” Rodrigo Pacheco said on social media.
Queiroga’s idea is 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).
Queiroga commissioned a study in the portfolio to assess this possibility, which is still in progress. 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.
According to the parliamentarian, Queiroga also took the opportunity to present data on the situation of the pandemic, including the number of hospitalizations and the advance of vaccination of children and adults.
The idea had already been discussed at the Ministry of Health, but gained momentum after President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) publicly supported the change in the status of the health crisis.
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.
The Minister of Health spoke about the possibility of a change with Pacheco on the same day he confirmed two cases of the deltacron variant in Brazil, one in Amapá and the other in Pará. This variant is a recombination of the delta and omicron variants of Covid.
“Our genomic surveillance service has already identified two cases in Brazil: one in Amapá and the other in Pará. And we monitor all these cases. This is the result of strengthening the capacity for genomic surveillance in Brazil,” he told reporters on Tuesday. (15).
Asked if the identification of cases of the new variant raises concern, Queiroga said he will monitor the new strain. He stressed that the environment is under control in Brazil, with the deceleration of cases of Covid-19.
“This variant is a variant of importance and requires monitoring […] if I had to indicate a measure, it would be the application of the booster dose”, he said.
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