Businesses in Brazilian tourist city organize their own voluntary lockdown

As hospital networks approach collapse in cities around Brazil, local governments are moving to toughen their social isolation measures and curb the spread of the coronavirus. However, since the beginning of the pandemic, nowhere in Brazil has seen a genuine lockdown.

Pressure from business sectors has kept city and state administrators from completely closing their economies, even during the most catastrophic moments of the pandemic, such as the oxygen shortage in Manaus.

President Jair Bolsonaro is another staunch opponent to lockdowns. “You can be sure of one thing, my army will not be on the street to force people to stay at home,” he said, while addressing supporters on Monday.

However, amid the chaos, a group of business owners in the town of famous tourist destination Alto Paraiso de Goiás, in Brazil’s Center-West region, decided...