At present, it is a period of concentration of public holidays and discount shopping season at the end of the year in Brazil. Because quarantine measures have been relaxed to a large extent nationwide, people are shopping to go out to prepare for the end of the year holiday.
However, the recent epidemic situation in Brazil has shown a deterioration trend, and the epidemic prevention and quarantine measures and the decline of some people’s vigilance have cast another shadow on the prevention and control of the epidemic.
According to a survey by the Brazilian National Trade Federation of Goods, Services and Tourism, nearly one-third of merchants will use discounts and other means to attract customers to consume at the end of the year.
23% of the merchants surveyed said that the discount on goods would be up to 50%. Just past weekend, shopping crowds queued up to buy discounted goods in shopping malls and stores in many cities in Brazil, and the number of people in streets and stores increased significantly.
However, the Imperial College of Technology recently released a study report that the number of basic infections of COVID-19 in Brazil has reached its highest level since May, at 1.3. According to research data from the School of Medicine of the University of São Paulo, the number of COVID-19 infections in the 20 states and the Federal District where the capital is located in Brazil is basically higher than 1, and only 5 states are below 1. The basic number of infections is the average number of people per infected person who can be contagious. The research team believes that the rise in the number of basic infections means that Brazil may have ushered in a second wave of epidemic.
Although the epidemic has had many impacts on all aspects of Brazil’s socio-economic environment, many people are trying to balance work, life and epidemic prevention and control.
Clothing store staff Renata: I am very worried about the COVID-19 epidemic now. As business activities continue to open, people’s contact with the outside world will increase, which is very dangerous. But people also need to work. I don’t want to return to the stage of home quarantine. During the stage of home quarantine, I stayed at home for three months, and I’m more worried that all business activities will be shut down again.
Interior Designer Olivera: Nowadays, there are more and more people on the street, which is an inevitable trend. Especially at the end of the year, people often gather at their elders’ homes for important festivals. At this time, we must be more careful, because there is a possibility of transmitting the virus to our elders.
Actor Bea: After gradually liberalized quarantine measures, people began to work normally. We had to learn how to coexist with the virus in this society.
