Rio de Janeiro eases COVID restrictions

Rio de Janeiro city authorities announced a partial easing of COVID-19 restrictions on Friday, saying conditions had improved, despite growing numbers of deaths.

The measure was issued with immediate effect, allowing restaurants, shops, beaches and bars to re-open with reduced opening hours and strict hygiene protocols, such as the mandatory use of face masks.

Mayor Eduardo Paes struck an optimistic note during the city council meeting, saying new infections appeared to be dropping and that the broad set of restrictions put in place since late March had helped ease the crisis.

"The good news is that, by enforcing the 14-day epidemiological period suggested by specialists plus other restrictions, we managed to lower the number of people seeking the city's basic health system," said Paes.

Stores and shops began opening their doors early in the day, as news of the new regulations filtered out, although street traffic remained sparce.

Paes said restrictions could be re-imposed if infection rates increase again.

At the Municipal Hospital of Sao Joao de Meriti the ICU ward was almost full, with many patients sharing space and oxygen cylinders as they received treatment.

The hospital also attended to dozens of residents who came to be tested for the virus.

"If the number of cases continues growing, at some point, it will be chaotic. There is no other way.  We don't even sleep. Today's reality is that health workers don't rest," hospital director Altair Soares Neto said.

Many cities in the state of Rio de Janeiro hospitals have ICU units reaching 100% capacity, and queues for admission are getting longer every day.

In recent weeks, Brazil has become the epicenter of the pandemic crisis, accounting for more than one-quarter of the world's deaths from COVID-19.

Just three days ago, Brazil reported a 24-hour count of COVID-19 deaths that exceeded 4,000 for the first time, becoming the second country to surpass that daily threshold.

According to Brazil's Health Ministry, Rio de Janeiro state has seen its average daily COVID-19 death toll climb from 112 to 207 daily between March 1st and April 7th.

The city's official figures register more than 13 million cases and 345 deaths so far.