With Covid-19 Rates Worsening, SP Government Should Put State In Red Quarantine Phase On Weekends | Saint Paul

In addition to the temporary stay in the most restrictive phase, in which only essential services can operate, regions such as the capital of São Paulo and Greater São Paulo must revert to the orange phase on business days, when bars do not can operate.

Since the beginning of the year, the government of São Paulo has been performing weekly reclassifications. At the end of 2020, state management even put the state in the red phase during the Christmas season to try to avoid crowds and consequently the risks of contamination.

The São Paulo Plan foresees the degradation to phases with more restrictive quarantine rules in regions that have a large weekly increase in new admissions, deaths, cases or bed occupancy rates in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

“Time and service restrictions aim to reduce the movement of people and, with them, the virus. ”

Despite highlighting the increase in the occupancy of ICU beds in the interior and in Greater São Paulo, the government did not anticipate which regions should change phase.

“Our occupancy rate in ICU beds in Greater São Paulo had a significant increase in the percentage figures, especially from January 5 to 19, in which we went from 65% to 70.5%. It was larger, [subiu] around 10% from the beginning of January to January 19, which clearly shows the frank expansion of the pandemic mainly in the interior. The state as a whole experienced an 8% increase in ICU occupancy rates, “State Health Secretary Jean Gorinchteyn said during a press conference this week.

On Tuesday (19), the coordinator of the Coronavirus Contingency Center, Paulo Menezes, had already said that the worsening of UCI occupancy rates could lead to the degradation of Greater São Paulo, which includes the capital, and the region of Sorocaba.

Five municipalities of Greater São Paulo already presented rates above 80% last Friday (15). This led the government to recommend that mayors adopt measures of the red phase, the most restrictive, even if the region had remained in yellow.

According to the latest reclassification of the São Paulo Plan, on January 15, only the Marília region was officially downgraded to the red phase.

Currently, ten regions are in the orange phase and another six, including Greater São Paulo, in yellow (see below for full list and rules for each stage).

The state already records daily average of deaths from Covid-19 more than 200 for more than 13 days in a row, which hasn’t happened since September 2020.

Both new deaths and new cases of coronavirus are trending upward. On Tuesday, SP surpassed the mark of 50 thousand deaths caused by the disease.

Current state classification

Red: only essential services work

Orange: bars do not open and other services operate with time and capacity restrictions.

• Aracatuba
• Bauru
• Frank
• Piracicaba
• Ribeirão Preto
• Sao Jose do Rio Preto
• Taubate
• Sorocaba
• Registry
• Prudent President

Yellow: bars can run until 8pm

• Araraquara
• Barretos
• Baixada Santista
• Campinas
• Sao Paulo big
• Sao Joao da Boa Vista

What works in the orange phase

(the phase changed on January 5 and became more permissive)

• Now all sectors of commerce and services are allowed. The exception is face-to-face service in bars, which is still prohibited.
• Occupancy capacity: before it was 20% and goes to 40% in all sectors.
• Maximum operation: extended from 4 to 8 hours a day.
• Closing time: the face-to-face service can only be carried out until 8:00 p.m.
• State parks, beauty salons and gyms – May open.

What works in the yellow phase

• Maximum capacity is now limited to 40% occupancy for all sectors. Before, the percentage varied by sector: gyms could operate with only 30% occupancy, for example.
• The face-to-face service to the public can only be performed until 10:00 p.m. in all sectors, except the bar sector, which can operate until 8:00 p.m.
• Opening hours are limited to 10 hours a day for all sectors. Before, the hours varied according to the sector.

Essential services that can work in the red phase

• Pharmacy
• Markets
• Bakeries
• Butcher shop
• Gas stations
• Laundries
• Public transportation, such as buses, trains, and subways
• Carriers, vehicle workshops
• Religious activities
• Hotels, inns and other hotel services.
• Banks
• Pet Shop

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