São Paulo, April 21, 2020.
Cruesp note on social isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic
Amid the challenges and hypotheses that still surround the Covid-19 pandemic, it is clear that strict social isolation is the most effective action to prevent the rapid spread of the disease and the consequent collapse of the public health system.
Cruesp emphasizes the importance of isolation and expresses concern about the pressure for early relaxation of the measure. When it occurs, it must be based on objective criteria and be put into practice in a planned and cautious manner, with continuous monitoring and maintenance of recommendations for the population to wear masks and avoid crowds.
The disbelief of some segments of society in the effectiveness of social isolation is based on a fanciful opposition between economic performance and public health protection, fueled by fake news with an ideological bias. This is a mistaken view, which ignores the fact that it is impossible to have economic growth in a prolonged context of epidemic, lack of assistance and crisis in hospitals.
The correlation between social isolation and the country's total shutdown is also incorrect. Although the quarantine does affect some sectors in a very incisive way – for which urgent public policies and support actions from civil society are needed –, this can be, for others, a moment of full productivity and innovation.
At the three state universities in São Paulo, research groups are struggling to find ways to combat Covid-19, while students continue their studies with the help of remote communication technologies. Its hospitals, located in the capital and in the interior, provide exclusive care through the SUS to a significant portion of the State's population and are a reference in the treatment of patients infected with the new coronavirus.
The greatest contribution that the three São Paulo universities can make against this pandemic and other contemporary evils is the production of scientific knowledge, which must always be the only one to support the elaboration and justify the adoption or cancellation of public policies such as the one that determines, for now, the necessary social isolation of the population.
Council of Rectors of São Paulo State Universities (Cruesp)
