Using a sanitary mask outdoors will no longer be mandatory in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro as of this Thursday, given the advance of vaccination against COVID-19, announced this Wednesday (10.27.2021) Governor Claudio Castro.
“We are going to make the use of masks more flexible in open spaces and that is cause for celebration. After more than a year and a half of the decree of public calamity due to the pandemic, this measure represents an important victory for all,” he wrote on Wednesday Castro on his Twitter account.
Now the masks will only be mandatory in public places with closed spaces, “thanks to the advance of vaccination and also due to the low transmission rate” of COVID-19, he added.
In the city of Rio, of 6.7 million inhabitants, nightclubs and concert halls will be allowed to reopen, with a capacity of up to 50 percent of their capacity.
Since September, the Mayor’s Office of the ‘Cidade Maravilhosa’ requires proof of vaccination to enter some places such as tourist sites, gyms or cinemas, although not in bars and restaurants.
Brasilia and Sao Paula advance towards the same measure
In the capital Brasilia, the use of face masks will no longer be mandatory in outdoor spaces as of November 3.
The authorities of Sao Paulo, the largest city in the country, are evaluating doing the same but have not released a date for the moment.
More than 68,000 people have died from the new coronavirus in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which has a mortality rate of 394 per 100,000 inhabitants, much higher than the national average (288 per 100,000 inhabitants).
However, the daily death toll has fallen dramatically in recent weeks due to the advance of immunization in that state of 17.4 million people.
In the city of Rio, more than 65 percent of the people have already received two doses of the anticovid vaccine.
With more than 605,000 deaths, Brazil, with 213 million inhabitants, is the second country that lost the most lives due to the pandemic, surpassed only by the United States.
mg (afp, Extra Globo, efe)
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