Mask must be used rigorously in the agglomeration, says SP secretary

Since the government of the state of São Paulo announced the easing of the use of masks in closed environments, two weeks ago, protection has disappeared from the faces of a good part of the population.

According to the State Secretary of Health, Jean Gorinchteyn, her place is now “in the pocket of the paulistas”. “So that, in an eventual agglomeration, they can make their use very rigorously”, he told the sheet.

The secretary’s explanation, however, clashes both with the announcement by the then governor João Doria (PSDB), who spoke of “return to normality”, and with the government’s official campaign on social networks, which does not even mention the recommendations for the use of protection. for certain groups and situations.

“There was guidance to preserve masks in specific populations, such as pregnant women, the elderly, people with chronic diseases and changes in their immunity”, adds the secretary. Why is this information not included in the campaign? In an interview, he could not say.

One of the official government campaign ads celebrates the removal of an icon of the pandemic, a symbol of care for their own health and that of others when broadcasting. the image of a woman removing her maskrevealing a smile.

The photo is accompanied by terms such as “flexibility” and “release”. Thus, the idea is passed that masks are no longer necessary, contrary to what experts defend.

“We had our role of responsibility to bring this information to the population. If the campaign is like this, I will take it to the Secretary of Communication”, admits the secretary after being informed about the lack of recommendation for the use of masks by certain groups in advertising.

As a term of comparison, the campaign of the city hall of Campinas (SP) brings a list of places where the use of protection remains mandatory, followed by people and situations in which the use is recommended and the circumstances in which having the mask is merely optional.

“The flexibility of masks is something that invites not to use them”, evaluates infectologist Raquel Stucchi, a professor at Unicamp. “And the campaign of the government of São Paulo is an exaltation of freedom”, she criticizes.

The São Paulo secretary argues that the high vaccination coverage in the population in the state of São Paulo (93.2% with at least one dose and 85.74% with two doses or a single dose, according to data from the Vacinometer on Friday night) makes it possible to release from the use of protection at this time.

And, according to Gorinchteyn, the government is prepared to react quickly in case of worsening indicators.

“That’s why we are today in a situation of continuing to assess health indices and, eventually, if necessary, we will go back to some extent, as will be done”, he says. “Covid is here to stay.”

Unlike previous announcements about policies for the pandemic, in which João Doria presented himself flanked by the nine doctors who make up his government’s scientific committee, on March 17, the presidential candidate announced the easing of the use of protection alone and in a network. nationally, in the program “Cidade Alerta”, by José Luiz Datena.

“I just received authorization from the São Paulo health committee”, said Doria to legitimize the end of the mandatory use of masks in closed places. “We can smile again,” she said in a campaigning tone.

Critics of the change pointed to the measure’s prematurity, its risks and its potential motivations.

“People are returning to face-to-face activities, with potential agglomeration, at a time of year when respiratory infections are already more frequent”, evaluates Stucchi.

“There are people, including the unvaccinated, who are at risk of serious illness. And in places where there is greater circulation of the virus, the use of masks is strongly recommended.”

Despite being treated by the government and the coordinator of the scientific committee, Paulo Menezes, as a unanimous decision, the sheet found that the measure was not consensual among the doctors of the group that technically advises the governor about the pandemic.

Some of them continue to use masks in closed places, where the government has relaxed their use, and, like colleagues, prefer to wait for the behavior of the virus in the coming weeks before reducing protection.

The rise in Covid cases in Europe and Asia raises an alert for Brazil, especially at a time of relaxation of non-pharmacological measures.

Over just over two years of the pandemic, waves of increased contamination and deaths from Covid emerged in these places and arrived in Brazil about six weeks later.

According to Gorinchteyn, the fact that China enacted a lockdown, confining almost 40 million people after an outbreak with thousands of infections recorded a day, represents a strategy that, here, would have no parallel.

“This is a reality for them because they understand that the detection of the virus, even in asymptomatic individuals in a place in China, leads to this measure. But here we are, two weeks after the removal of mandatory masks, in a progressive drop in numbers of hospitalizations”, says the secretary.

The physician and infectious disease specialist Drauzio Varella stated, in his column in sheetthat the measure of the government of São Paulo was adopted for political reasons.

Since the second half of 2021, presidential candidate João Doria has been pressing the committee to abolish the mandatory use of masks in São Paulo. The protection serves as a permanent reminder that the coronavirus is still circulating, and that Covid-19 still kills many Brazilians daily.

Responsible for the first vaccine available in the country, Coronavac, Doria counts on his performance in the fight against the pandemic as an asset of the presidential campaign that he fought for.

The presidential candidate toucan faces challenges to his candidacy within his party. The latest Datafolha poll pointed out that he has only 2% of voting intentions at the moment. Last Thursday (31), rumors of his withdrawal from the presidential race stirred the political milieu, but he ended up maintaining the candidacy.

Since releasing the use of masks in closed places, several commercial and cultural establishments, as well as the three São Paulo state universities —USP, Unesp and Unicamp—, have communicated that the use of protection would be maintained in closed spaces and recommended in agglomerations in open environments. .

For Gorinchteyn, the autonomy of São Paulo universities –as well as of all commercial establishments– makes it possible to maintain the indication of use. “What can’t is a greater flexibility determination than that established by the government”, he says.

According to the secretary, such decisions are made according to the entities’ own assessments, based on the number of people who will return in person.