Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga announced in a radio and TV broadcast on Sunday (April 17) night the end of the public health emergency state in the country due to COVID-19.
“Today, with the strengthening of the SUS, the largest vaccination campaign in our history, and with the improvement of the epidemiological scenario, we are able to announce the end of the Public Health Emergency of National Importance – ESPIN,” Queiroga said on Twitter.
“This, however, does not mean the end of COVID-19. We will continue to live with the virus,” Queiroga said on television.
The public health emergency state in Brazil was first declared on February 3, 2020. At the end of that month, the first case of contamination by the new coronavirus was identified. The declaration of community transmission came in March, the month in which the first death from the disease was also recorded in the country.