In Brazil, the health crisis is worsening day by day. The number of deaths per day continues to increase: the coronavirus has claimed 1,800 victims in the past 24 hours. The city of Rio has implemented a curfew since Friday, March 5 between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., and bars and restaurants must close their doors from 5 p.m. A difficult measure to put into practice.
From our correspondent in Rio, Sarah Cozzolino
After seventeen hours, the bars and restaurants of the chic Leblon district are timidly starting to lower their curtains. Some only lower them halfway and we can still see the legs of some customers who drag on forever.
Sirleide is a waitress at a restaurant that will only be doing deliveries tonight. “ It’s still very different. Usually it starts on Thursday evening, and it runs on Friday, Saturday, Sunday. It’s always crowded with people without masks here, walking around and drinking as if nothing had happened », She notes.
Even though the next few days will be difficult for restaurateurs, Leandro supports the restrictions. “ It is an evil, but a necessary evil. Without obligation, without decree that forbids people to go to the streets, they will not do it on their own He said.
In Catete, in another neighborhood, waiters continue to set up tables at 8 p.m. Marcos and Guilherme are even surprised to have found a bar to drink a beer.
« We live in the neighborhood, and when we came we saw lots of bars that we know were closing, but when we went shopping we found this one open. So the rules are useless if there is no control », They explain.
Relaxed decree
As soon as it entered into force, the decree is already relaxed. A decision of the justice of the city of Rio extends the hours of bars to 8 p.m., like other businesses. The mayor has announced that he will appeal the decision.
For its part, the State of São Paulo, with its 46 million inhabitants, returns this Saturday, for two weeks, in “ red phase »With the closure of non-essential businesses.
►Also read: « Stop whining “: President Bolsonaro castigates local measures in the face of Covid
The restrictive measures (containment, curfew) taken in several cities and states of the country are widely criticized by the far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, who threatens local leaders with reprisals through budget cuts.
National containment, a solution?
For Roberto Kraenkel, member of the Covid-19 Observatory in Brazil, the country is “ in the face of a catastrophic situation ». « The reason is probably the P.1 variant, the Brazilian variant which is much more transmissible. If it is much more transmissible than the wild variant, that means that the speed of the epidemic’s spread is also much faster. He observes.
He calls for national containment. “ Given the situation we have now, there is no other situation than lockdown, first for two or three weeks. Because otherwise, the number of cases will be so large that there will be no hospitals and health services in Brazil to relieve the population. “, He assures.
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