Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel announced his state will extend quarantine rules until May 31, following a similar move taken earlier by the São Paulo government. The decree — to be signed on Monday — may also impose stricter social isolation measures, after renowned public health institutions such as the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) called for a full lockdown in the state.
The state capital is already in partial lockdown — although compliance has been a problem in a city not known for adhering to rules. Rio is second in Brazil for the total number of cases, and is responsible for 15.2 percent of all the country’s deaths. As of Friday, the state had 15.741 confirmed cases and 1,503 deaths.
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