Brazil may downgrade status of COVID-19 pandemic to endemic
«In view of the improvement of the epidemiological situation and in accordance with the second paragraph of article one of Law 13.979/2020, Minister of Health Marcelo Queiroga is studying the possibility of downgrading the current status of COVID-19 in Brazil to an endemic,» Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter, Agencia Brasil reports.
In a statement, the Ministry of Health confirmed it is adopting the necessary measures to reclassify the status of COVID-19 in Brazil, currently set as a pandemic. «The Ministry of Health is assessing the measure, along with other ministries and competent agencies, taking into account the epidemiological landscape and the behavior of the virus in the country.»
Disagreement
In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) classified the COVID-19 sanitary outbreak as a pandemic.
The term endemic is used in cases of recurrent, typical diseases that are frequent in a particular region, but for which there is already an effective response by the health care network.
A disease can start as an outbreak or epidemic and becomes a pandemic after it reaches worldwide levels—that is, when a certain agent spreads across several countries or continents, usually affecting a large number of people.
If confirmed, the measure goes against the guidelines set by the WHO, the body that defines when a disease becomes a global threat, which still considers COVID-19 a pandemic.
Effects
If treated as an endemic, COVID-19 will no longer be a health emergency, so restrictions such as the use of masks, a ban on large gatherings, vaccination passports, and medical examinations, for example, may no longer be mandatory.