Wearing a mask on an airplane is no longer mandatory – 01/03/2023 – Health

The collegiate board of Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) decided to remove the mandatory mask inside the plane and airport in Brazil. The measure is valid from the date of publication, which should take place this Wednesday (1st).

Anvisa had decided on the return of mandatory mask wearing in these environments in November last year. The obligation should only continue for the crew member who has a suspected case of the disease. In this case, this item must be provided by the crew.

However, measures such as disembarking by row were maintained, something that Anvisa considers a legacy of the pandemic and which also helps to avoid turmoil when aircraft leave.

According to director Daniel Pereira, responsible for the Fifth Board, the epidemiological scenario has improved, with a reduction in cases and deaths this year compared to last year.

The director also cited data from the sector that show a 91% reduction in cases of Covid-19 among crew members in January of this year compared to November of last year, when there was a return to the mandatory use of a mask.

“As disclosed by the Ministry of Health’s coronavirus panel, the number of new cases disclosed per epidemiological week has been decreasing since epidemiological week 50, from December 11, 2022 to December 17, 2022, from 321,349 thousand new cases to 31,158 in the epidemiological week 8, from February 19 to 25, 2023, which represents a 90% reduction in the registration of new cases”, said the director.

During the collegiate board meeting, the directors spoke of the importance of vaccination and also the use of a mask for the risk group in closed places.

The Ministry of Health maintains guidance on the use of a mask by people with flu symptoms, suspected or confirmed cases, in addition to people in the risk group who may develop the severe form of the disease.

Director Alex Machado Campos took the opportunity to criticize the study presented by the CFM (Federal Council of Medicine) to Anvisa. He said that removing the mandatory mask does not mean that its use is no longer important.

The president of the CFM, José Hiran da Silva Gallo, sent a letter criticizing the maintenance of the use of masks by the general population as a way to reduce the cases of Covid.

In the document, he treats the use of protection as an ideology and states that disposal can cause an environmental problem. Gallo says that there is no evidence of protection, but of harm to the health of crew and passengers on aircraft.

“The use of masks as a sign of virtue or as a measure of a sense of social belonging can never be imposed on people who do not share such ideologies or behaviors, especially in the absence of scientific evidence or even possible harm to the patient’s health”, he says. Rooster at craft.