The Senate approved, this Wednesday afternoon (17), in a symbolic vote, a bill that institutes March 12 as the national date in honor of the victims of covid-19. On that same day, in 2020, the first death occurred due to the pandemic that was spreading across the country. The victim was a 57-year-old woman, who had been admitted to the Dr Carmino Caricchio Municipal Hospital, in São Paulo (SP), on March 11th.
With the approval of the text by the senators, it now goes to the Chamber of Deputies. The initiative of the tribute is of the Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI) of the Pandemic. Senators Rogério Carvalho (PT-SE) and Humberto Costa (PT-PE), signatories of PL 2356/2021, mentioned the high number of covid-19 deaths in the country and recalled that “each one of these lost lives matters a lot and never we will forget them”.
They praised the efforts of health professionals in combating the disease, noting that “the Unified Health System (SUS) has shown resilience and there is no doubt that, without a public and free system to serve the Brazilian people, everything would have been much worse ”.
The rapporteur of the PL, senator Simone Tebet (MDB-MS), leader of the women’s bench who was also a member of the CPI on the Pandemic, explained that the day will not be considered a holiday. She reinforced the idea that the date will serve to honor not only the victims of the disease, but also their families and health professionals.
The senator referred to the memory of senators Major Olímpio (SP), Arolde de Oliveira (RJ) and José Maranhão (PB), who died as a result of covid-19. She regretted that the prediction that each of the pandemic survivors would feel the effects of the death of a relative or friend had been fulfilled.
“It is important to say that, when the first death by covid-19 in Brazil was announced, the prediction was that, if we were all survivors, we would suffer the pain of losing at least one family member or friend. The prediction, unfortunately, was correct. People blood of our blood, people left our relationship and went to live in the final meaning of each of the numbers of this tribute, which we institute today. We cannot allow it to be forgotten.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Brazil has registered 611,478 deaths by covid-19.
*With information from the Senate Agency
