SAO PAULO, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Governor of Brazil's Sao Paulo state Joao Doria on Friday said strict lockdown restrictions on non-essential activities will be lifted as the hospitalization rates of COVID-19 patients have fallen.
The state capital Sao Paulo and six other regions reverted to a yellow alert phase of the pandemic, which allows up to 40 percent occupancy at parks, beauty salons, gyms, restaurants, bars, cinemas, theaters, shopping centers and offices, although a ban remains on stage shows, parties and discos.
According to the governor, the average occupancy rate of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients declined from 69.9 to 67.2 percent.
Despite "the drop in hospitalizations for the third consecutive week and the opening up of new beds, we recommend mayors be careful in reopening activities," said Doria at a press conference.
The state, home to 46 million inhabitants, has seen 54,324 COVID-19 deaths and 1,833,163 cases of infection since Latin America's first case of infection was detected in Sao Paulo on Feb. 26, 2020. Enditem
