RE: Producing14 Mar 2021 09:10
Brazil's most populous and wealthiest states are restoring lockdowns after Covid-19 hospitalizations and deaths set new records, trends that could prolong the country's economic contraction through the first half of 2021.
Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and other states have imposed two-week lockdowns with restrictions on all non-essential businesses. Mining, construction and agriculture are among the sectors classified as essential, putting the burden of the restrictions on the retail and service sectors.
"We are on the brink of the health system's collapse. Urgent and collective measures are required," Joao Doria, governor of Sao Paulo, Brazil's most economically important state, said yesterday when announcing the lockdown that starts on 6 March.
Brazil's economy shrank by 4.1pc in 2020 because of the pandemic, less than many had projected but still the worst setback on record, according to data released yesterday by the Brazilian statistics institute (IBGE).