State Health Secretaries Say Country Is Experiencing 'Worst Moment' in Covid and Demand Curfew from 8 pm to 6 am

Managers criticize 'absence of national direction and also recommend maximum restriction of non-essential activities in regions with more than 85% of occupied beds

Natalie Cancian

State Health Secretaries released a letter on Monday (1) in which they state that Brazil is experiencing the "worst moment of the health crisis" caused by Covid and called for greater rigor in measures to prevent a collapse across the country.

The secretaries recommended several measures including the adoption of a national curfew from 8 pm to 6 am, suspension of face-to-face classes and lockdown in regions "with bed occupancy above 85% and increasing cases and deaths."

The document is signed by Conass, a council that brings together the 27 managers in the area. In the text, addressed to the "Brazilian population," the group cites the lack of national coordination as one of the factors for the drop in adherence to isolation measures and asks for a "pact for life."

The group said that the worsening of the epidemic in several states "leads to the collapse of their public and private assistance networks and the imminent risk of spreading to all regions of Brazil."

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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