Ministry of Health Sees Stabilization in the Pandemic Curve and Prepares Flexibility Protocol

With an average of one thousand new deaths daily, the Ministry of Health reported on Thursday (18) that the curve of Covid-19 cases and deaths is stabilizing. The trend, however, still needs to be confirmed in the coming weeks. "When we look at the slope of the curve for new cases in Covid, it suggests that we are entering a plateau and that the curve is heading towards stability," said the secretary of health surveillance, Arnaldo Correia de Medeiros. According to him, the ministry says it has seen a more intense trend since the last week. "We need to confirm that the trend remains over the next 15 days, but we have already realized that we are perhaps actually entering a plateau of new cases," he said. Between the last two weeks, the average still increased - from 24,915 to 25,381. The advance, however, was less than what had been occurring until then, says Medeiros. Regarding deaths, the average of new confirmations went from 1,014 to 970 in the last two weeks, the data show. The World Health Organization had already mentioned the possible stabilization of the case curve in Brazil. The organization, however, recommended caution and also stressed that preventive measures are necessary to prevent a new case discharge.