Coronavirus

Rio de Janeiro to vote on new measures against Covid-19

the landmark Lapa Arches in Rio de Janeiro
The landmark Lapa Arches in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Lazyllama/Shutterstock

Rio de Janeiro’s state lawmakers are voting on a new set of measures on Wednesday that may stiffen the fight against Covid-19 in the second most affected state of Brazil, as reported by radio station BandNews. The main proposals are as follows:

  • Applying mandatory sanitary barriers to be installed close to airports, ports and bus stations for six months, extendable for another six months;
  • Forcing the state of Rio to provide PPE such as protective masks for security forces;
  • Postponing the expiry date of documents and certificates for 90 days during the pandemic;
  • A bill that allows the government to use public buildings to shelter homeless people, negotiate credit lines with zero interest and hire foreign health professionals during the crisis.