The government can reduce the quarantine period for asymptomatic positive cases from 10 to five days, contaminated by the micron variant of the new coronavirus. The information was given this Friday morning (7) by the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, in an interview on arrival at the Ministry.
According to Queiroga, even today he will meet with the heads of the Extraordinary Department for Confronting Covid-19 (Secovid) and the Department of Health Surveillance to deal with this matter. They will also analyze the possibility of allowing healthcare workers who have had a positive diagnosis for the variant, but who also do not show symptoms, to be part of the front line in the care of patients with covid-19. “If I’m not mistaken, the CDC [Centros de Controle e Prevenção de Doenças dos Estados Unidos] already gave this recommendation [reduzir o isolamento dos pacientes assintomáticos com Ômicron]. The French government is even authorizing health professionals who are positive to serve on the front line, due to the number of cases. So, this is being analyzed”, he added.
To the journalists, Queiroga highlighted that there are reports in the scientific community about the safety of adopting the reduction of quarantine and the placement of asymptomatic workers in direct care to patients with covid-19. “Possibly [o Brasil vai seguir essas medidas], because this is being adopted in other countries and is based on scientific evidence. And then it is possible for us to adopt the same conduct. This, of course, is being studied in the technical area, at the Health Surveillance Secretariat, at Secovid. Today I have a meeting with the secretaries precisely to deal with these themes”, he added.
Testing
The Minister of Health also said that the ministry intends to increase testing of the population. “It is necessary to carry out testing to identify the increase in the number of cases and to isolate people who are positive, it is not just testing for the sake of testing”, said Queiroga.
Omicron
Queiroga estimated that within 30 days the government will have clearer information about the dangers related to the Ômicron variant. “We are going to wait another three or four weeks to have a more definitive idea regarding the potential for lethality”, said the minister.
North region
In the minister’s view, the fight against the growth of covid-19 and influenza should prioritize the North region. “What worries us most is the North region because vaccination coverage is chronically lower, and because the health system is more fragile”, he justified.
Carnival
Queiroga commented on the cancellation of the street carnival in several cities across Brazil. He stressed that “the Ministry never encouraged” the holding of major events throughout the pandemic.
States and Municipalities
Marcelo Queiroga demanded better management of states and municipalities for actions to combat the pandemic and said that entities should also use part of their budgets to control the growth of covid-19 cases in the country, as well as to increase the spread of influenza. “The SUS is tripartite, and states and municipalities must also allocate part of their budgets to fight the covid-19 pandemic. It’s not just charging the Ministry of Health all the time and adopting measures in line with its idea at the end”, he criticized.
Leak
About the leak of data from pro-vaccine doctors who participated in the public hearing on child vaccination, organized by the Ministry last Tuesday (4), the minister said that the leak is not the responsibility of the ministry.
He insisted that questions should be made to Congresswoman Bia Kicis (PSL-DF), who would have shared the doctors’ data, such as cell phone numbers, e-mail and CPF. “I was not at the public hearing. You have to question Congresswoman Bia Kicis. The public hearing did not take place in the ministry, so it did not leave the ministry. The hearing took place at PAHO”, said Queiroga, adding that he is the minister of Health, and not “the ministry’s data inspector”.
On Twitter, the deputy mocked the criticisms about the leak. “So much interest in knowing who will be responsible for an alleged leak of data from a medical document and no interest in knowing who will be responsible for any damages caused by the side effects of vaccines on our children,” he said.
