Governor João Doria announced on Friday (12) the creation of a Blitze Committee by the State Government and the City Hall of São Paulo to reinforce the inspection work and comply with the restrictions provided for in the São Paulo Plan in the capital. The goal is to prevent illegal parties and agglomerations in irregular commercial establishments.
Inspections should be intensified this weekend, before the emergency phase decreed by the Governor comes into effect. The new stage will take effect from the next Monday (15) to curb the increase in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the coronavirus and contain the overload in hospitals in the state.
The Blitze Committee involves the Metropolitan Civil Guard and Covisa (Health Surveillance Coordination) by the São Paulo City Hall. The State Government is part of the task force with professionals from Sanitary Surveillance, Procon and the Civil and Military Police.
A meeting at the Palácio dos Bandeirantes on Friday afternoon defined details of the operations. The meeting was attended by Governor Doria, Vice-Governor and Secretary of Government Rodrigo Garcia, Vice-Mayor Ricardo Nunes, Secretaries of State and representatives of the bodies that coordinate the inspection.
The number of denunciations jumped in March, with calls and messages sent to the Health Surveillance, Procon and the Military Police. The actions take place in different parts of the capital to avoid possible agglomerations and clandestine parties. The reinforcement of inspection aims to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Procon-SP has already inspected 636 establishments that provide non-essential activity – such as bars, clubs, restaurants, snack bars – and fined a hundred (16% of the total) for disrespecting the State Government’s determinations. Offending companies can be fined up to R$ 10.2 million according to the Consumer Protection Code. The Sanitary Surveillance is also inspecting establishments that do not comply with sanitary norms with the support of the Military Police.
Complaints against clandestine parties and irregular functioning of non-essential services can be made by calling 0800-771-3541 or by email to the Health Surveillance Center (secretarias@cvs.saude.sp.gov.br) and also through the Procon website (www.procon.sp.gov.br). The PM answers by phone 190.
Emergency phase of the SP Plan
The emergency phase of the SP Plan prohibits the take out of products in restaurants and snack bars and face-to-face service in construction material stores, in addition to vetoing collective religious celebrations and group sports activities.
Stores and restaurants will only be able to make deliveries through the system in which the consumer receives the product inside his vehicle (drive thru), between 5 am and 8 pm, or through delivery services by phone or internet application. There will be no restrictions on the operation of supermarkets.
Teleworking will be mandatory for all non-essential administrative activities. The levy applies to public agencies as well as private offices and call center services. The measures are aimed at reducing the circulation of at least 4 million people through additional restrictions.
The set of emergency measures adopted by São Paulo is similar to those in countries that have adopted tougher rules to contain the pandemic through restricted circulation. Recently, the Government of Portugal has succeeded in reducing new cases and deaths from COVID-19 by imposing broader standards of social isolation.
