A big blow for samba lovers.
The authorities in Rio de Janeiro decided, this Tuesday, to suspend the traditional massive street parades of the next carnival because of the progression of the Omicron variant linked to the end-of-year celebrations.
"The street carnival as it took place until 2020 (...) will not take place in 2022", declared the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, in a live broadcast on social networks, advancing the difficulties in controlling these festivities in a period of growing Covid-19 infections.
This is the second year in a row that such a decision has been taken.
Discussion with neighborhood music groups
The city councilor of the Brazilian “Marvelous City” made the announcement after a meeting with representatives of neighborhood musical groups (“blocos”) who usually run this popular carnival.
The parade of samba schools in the Sambodrome is maintained for the moment, for the end of February.
To read also Covid-19: how to stop the mad race of Omicron?
Eduardo Paes clarified that it had been proposed to hold events in three different parts of the city, but the “blocos” did not accept it.
They intend to make him a "counter-proposal", he added.
During the 2020 carnival, some seven million people took part in the street festivities, according to the tourism department of the town hall, Riotur.
Brazil is the second country in the world most bereaved by the pandemic, behind the United States, with an estimated 620,000 deaths from the coronavirus.
