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Photo: Douglas Junior / Futura Press / AP / TT
Empty streets in São Luis following the new quarantine rules.
Two million cities in northeast Brazil are quarantined during the week.
At the same time, the numbers are rising above the number of covid-19 infected and deceased in the country.
São Luis has been quarantined as the first city in Brazil. As of Tuesday, residents of the city of one million inhabitants in northeast Brazil can only leave their homes for health reasons or to buy food. The new rules, in a first step, will apply until May 14.
On Friday, Fortaleza, 90 km southeast of São Luis, will also be in quarantine. The nearly three million inhabitants of Fortaleza are in quarantine for 20 days. Cities are the first in the country to be quarantined.
Preventive purpose
Fortaleza is the capital of Ceará, one of the most affected states in Brazil. However, the state of Maranhão, where São Luis is the capital, is relatively affected by the coronavirus with 249 deaths, and the new strict rules are introduced for preventive purposes.
“It is not chaos with us, but we can see that the pressure has increased rapidly and is above what medical care can do,” says Governor Flavio Dino.
President Jair Bolsonaro, throughout the crown pandemic, has mitigated the risks and previously called the introduction of quarantines by the country’s governors “crime.”
– The destruction of jobs by some governors is irresponsible and unacceptable. We will pay a high price in the future, Bolsonaro said in a speech broadcast on Facebook until Sunday.
Almost 8,000 dead
The numbers of infected and dead in Brazil continue to increase. During Tuesday, the death toll increased by more than 600, to 7,921. The official figure for the number of people infected is 114,715.
Those numbers are likely to be lower than the actual numbers. Deputy Health Minister Wanderson Oliveira said Tuesday that the results of more than 100,000 tests have yet to be recorded. He also said the numbers are lagging and that the 600 deaths did not necessarily occur on Monday.
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