São Paulo: Lockdown to ease only where isolation topped 50%

Social isolation in São Paulo state once again reached 49 percent on Sunday (May 3), a level seen as satisfactory by the local government, even though the ideal is 70 percent. In the city of São Paulo, this proportion stood at 58 percent.

According to Governor João Doria, the cities that fail to reach a satisfactory rate and remain below 50 percent will not take part in the plan to ease isolation rules, slated to begin on May 11, when lockdown is set to end in the state.

“Without a rate above 50 percent, cities will be automatically left out of the measures to relax lockdown,” Doria declared. During lockdown, only essential services—logistics, public security, health care, and fueling—have been operational in the state.

The lockdown measures adopted in São Paulo, Doria said, has helped curb the spread of the virus. If it were not for them, there would be ten times more deaths than what has been reported so far, he argued. “If we hadn’t been in lockdown, São Paulo would have had more than 26 thousand deaths. We have helped save the lives of Brazilians in São Paulo,” Doria said during an interview at the Bandeirantes Palace.

The governor reiterated he will not give in to the pressure from political parties and executives to end the state’s lockdown period. “In São Paulo, we will only do what science and medicine determine,” he stated.

The state has 31,772 people infected and 2,627 killed by COVID-19, as per the latest official figures.