The city of Niterói has banned the entry of taxis from other cities and a reduction of 30% of intercity buses at the João Goulart Terminal among the lockdown measures.
This Saturday, the 4th, the municipality of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, will begin a series of measures to block access to the city. The goal is to reduce the movement of people to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Twenty-eight points will be blocked, the main ones being in neighboring cities São Gonçalo and Maricá. The measures will be in effect until April 18.
The city of Niterói has 65 confirmed cases of coronavirus. Therefore, the city government has decided to take appropriate precautions to further isolate the city and reduce the risk of infection. These measures include banning taxis from other cities and reducing the number of intercity buses at the João Goulart Terminal by 30%.
"Traffic will be completely blocked on 21 streets and local roads in the city that connect to Maricá and São Gonçalo. Initially, vehicle entry will be controlled at the seven possible access points to Niterói, and taxis from other cities will be instructed to turn back from that point, as they will no longer be allowed into the city starting Saturday," said Renato Barandier, Municipal Secretary of Urban Planning and Mobility.
Measure for social isolation
Rodrigo Neves, mayor of Niterói, reaffirmed that the measure is essential to maintain social isolation.
"These will be two critical weeks for the spread of the coronavirus. We need to reduce the number of people entering the city, as Niterói is the second-highest daily traffic in Brazil, with approximately 250,000 people who don't live here," emphasizes Mayor Rodrigo Neves. "With this first stage of the plan, we will monitor the coronavirus's expansion curve in Niterói and neighboring cities and eventually adopt the other measures proposed in the Plan."
Blocking points
– In the Oceanic Region, vehicle checkpoints will be on Avenida Central. Itaipuaçu Road will be closed. In Pendotiba, there will be seven checkpoints, six of which will be permanent. Vehicles will only be allowed to pass through Estrada Caetano Monteiro. On RJ-104, the checkpoint will be near the Santa Bárbara interchange. In the North Zone, there will be 12 checkpoints, two with controlled passage and 10 with complete closures. Vehicles will only be allowed to pass through this region via the Barreto overpass and Dr. March. Dr. Câmara Coutinho, João Batista, Sá Pinto, and Travessa Loureiro Cintra streets will be closed. The two access points to Venda da Cruz—Rua da Cruz and Capitão Geraldo de Oliveira, Cel. Amarantes, and Major Goudin streets—will be closed.
In the downtown area, there will be six checkpoints, two of which will be checked by municipal guards and four will be completely blocked. In this area, there will be a checkpoint on Feliciano Sodré Avenue, next to Renascença Square, and on the downhill ramp from the Rio-Niterói Bridge to Alameda São Boaventura. Access to Jansem de Melo Avenue will also be closed for those coming from the bridge; the downhill access ramp will remain blocked.