After the start of the year there were growing reports in the news about the coronavirus, and I heard that Wuhan, China was closed off on January 23rd, but that was a story about the other side of the world, plus, sightseers kept coming from all over the world during the Carnival holiday at the end of February, like every year, and big parades were staged in São Paulo and Rio. I heard Japanese expatriates I know in São Paulo say things like, “My husband has come back from a business trip to Japan but I wonder if he has the coronavirus,” “Business trips to Japan have been canceled,” and other such comments. After the start of March, soccer matches were being postponed because of the novel coronavirus, and there were no spectators at the Rio and São Paulo State Championships on the 13th. After the 13th, it was decided that São Paulo and Rio state and municipal schools would close, and private schools were instructed to do the same.

Four people died and 240 were infected in São Paulo state on the 18th. On the 19th, the city of São Paulo declared a state of emergency and decided to close shops from the 20th to April 5th. The only shops that were allowed to stay open were shops selling daily necessities, like markets, grocery stores, bakeries, pharmacies, pet shops, gas stations, and repair shops. Restaurants had to leave more than a meter between tables, office workers started working from home, schools put classes online, shops sold online, and fitness gyms and parks were closed. The supermarkets stayed open and although I didn't see much panic buying, they didn't have alcohol gel or masks anywhere. At the supermarkets, they put markers on the floor at the cash register lines to show the distance to the customer in front. And at the cash registers, they put up panels between staff and customers.


They usually had alcohol gel at entrances to restaurants, and I carried around some I already had in a small container. Masks were only to be used by sick people as well as doctors and nurses. In other countries, they use them to avoid infecting other people when they have a cold and are coughing and sneezing, but we don’t have the custom of using masks, perhaps because the winter isn’t severe in Brazil. They say that thorough hand washing is a measure that controls infection by the novel coronavirus, and they show the correct way to wash your hands on TV and the internet. You wash your hands for as long as it takes to sing the Happy Birthday song twice. I heard my Japanese friends say things like, "Don't Brazilians know how to wash their hands properly?" Come to think of it, maybe the children don’t learn at school because elementary and junior high schools don’t have school lunches and it is parents who teach children how to wash their hands. Thoughts like these have been popping into my head.
Masks are to be used by people involved in medical care, and because there are few of them, you don’t need to use them as an infection control measure at the moment. That’s what news reports have been saying.
From March 24th, all restaurants have been closed and can only do deliveries. You can have a coffee and so on in supermarkets and similar places here, but even if the shop is open, all eating and drinking in the shop is prohibited.


Over the last two weeks there has been constant anxiety about how long this will go on. On April 5th, this situation was extended for another two weeks, and the state governor told everyone, just "Fique em casa (stay at home)." Pacaembú, a soccer stadium in São Paulo, was prepared as a makeshift hospital to take 202 infected people. In contrast to the measures taken by the mayor and the governor of São Paulo, President Bolsonaro is taking a passive stance because of the impact on the economy, so they are at odds. In São Paulo, pot banging begins at 8:30 at night. This is a protest movement against the government. Many residents also shout "Bolsonaro out!”


As of April 12th, there have been 1,223 deaths in Brazil. The number of confirmed cases is 22,169.