Coronavirus Causes Ban on Tourist Cruises in Brazil

In an effort to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus, Brazil has banned tourist cruises from embarking and disembarking, according to information from the Ministry of Health this Thursday (19). "Cruises are totally prevented from arriving in Brazil," said Joao Gabbardo, the executive secretary of the Ministry of Health, during a news conference in Brasilia. According to Gabbardo, international cruises that had Brazil as their destination will no longer land in the country, with the exception of two tourist ships that are already in operation. These cruises must complete the journey without intermediate stops. "People are going to disembark [from the cruise] just to board the plane [to return to their countries]." Ships carrying cargo will still be allowed to dock in the country. Such a ban could jeopardize supplies of products to the country. But the crew cannot land. Questioned by the press, remotely, Joao Gabbardo, said that the Ministry sees no justification for closing borders between states within the country. "The tendency is for all capitals to have [soon] sustained cases," he said, arguing the lack of effectiveness of a measure like this. There is community transmission in the cities of Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre - in Santa Catarina, there are records in the south of the state, in the Tubarao region. The states of Sao Paulo and Pernambuco also have this record.