Rio postpones relocation of samba schools

Enlarge image

Carnival in the Sambodrome (2020): First postponed to April

Photo: Bruna Prado/Getty Images

In the midst of a new corona wave, the Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro has again postponed the world-famous carnival parades of the samba schools.

"Due to the increase in Covid-19 cases in the city, we are announcing that we will move the carnival to the Tiradentes holiday in April," said a tweet from the Rio city government on Friday evening (local time).

The holiday falls on April 21.

The decision was made after a meeting between the mayors of Rio, Eduardo Paes, and São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes, the health secretaries and presidents of the samba school associations of the two cities.

"There is no way to hold the carnival at any price," said Rio's health secretary, Daniel Soranz, according to the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper.

He hopes for a falling curve of the omicron variant.

Mayor Paes canceled the street carnival in Rio earlier this month for the second time in a row.

The festival was to take place from February 25th to March 1st.

The plans for the legendary parades in the Sambodrome in February and March, which were also postponed and then canceled last year, remained in place.

In the sambodrome, controls to protect against infection are easier to implement, said Paes.

For example, in the measures it published this week, the city of São Paulo required masks for members of the samba schools and spectators in the stands, as well as proof of vaccination for everyone involved.

However, health experts have indicated in the Brazilian media that they would advise against the spectacle in the sambodrome because the virus cannot be controlled despite planned protective measures.

"Every gathering of people in the coming weeks will be a reason for an even greater spread of the omicron variant," said Roberto Medronho, a member of the scientific committee that advises Rio in the pandemic, the "Folha".

Samba schools continue to prepare

A corona-related cancellation would mean another loss of millions after the 2021 failure. The samba is the soul of Rio, the carnival the annual catharsis of a people, in which the pressure is released like from a pressure cooker. It usually attracts millions of tourists to Sugar Loaf every year. According to the "Carnavalesco" portal, the city's spectacle brings in the equivalent of around 620 million euros.

Despite the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, samba schools have been preparing for the possible moves for months. "Everyone at the Mangueira is working to ensure that the floats and costumes are ready by February 20, regardless of what the responsible authorities decide," the news portal "G1" quoted artistic director Leandro Vieira as saying. The Mangueira was one of the schools that was most aware of the special circumstances of the pandemic: according to Vieira, the unvaccinated were not welcome.

According to official figures, more than 23.5 million of Brazil's 210 million residents have been infected with the corona virus.

Almost 623,000 patients have died related to Covid-19 - one of the highest death tolls worldwide.

As the vaccination campaign progressed, the number of new deaths fell sharply, and optimism grew, especially in Rio.

Almost 70 percent of the Brazilian population is now fully vaccinated.

Recently, the number of new infections has increased enormously, also influenced by the omicron variant and celebrations at Christmas and New Year's Eve.

On Wednesday, Brazil reported more than 200,000 new corona cases in one day for the first time.

Proof of vaccination is required to enter the country, as in many places when visiting public institutions.