Coronavirus: Rio cancels New Years Eve party

The traditional end-of-year party in Rio de Janeiro, which usually brings together millions of spectators on Copacabana beach to admire the fireworks, has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, announced this Saturday 25 July the town hall of the tourist capital of Brazil.

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The city's tourist office will present to Mayor Marcelo Crivella in the coming days different options for the end of year party, without the direct presence of the public, which will be accessible online or by television.

The usual model of end of year party " is not viable in the current scenario of the pandemic, without there being a vaccine ", explained the tourist office of Rio de Janeiro, recalling that the city was studying a possible postponement of the Rio carnival, which attracts millions of tourists every year

Five of the main samba schools recently announced their wish for a postponement until 2021. They do not want a carnival until a vaccine has been produced. The tourist office said in this regard that it was awaiting the next assembly of the Independent League of Samba Schools.

Sao Paulo carnival postponed

On Friday, the mayor of Sao Paulo, Bruno Covas, for his part announced the postponement indefinitely of the carnival in the largest metropolis in Brazil due to the coronavirus. The new date of the carnival has not been determined but it could be " at the end of May or the beginning of July " 2021, he had said.

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Sao Paulo also announced the cancellation of the end of year celebrations and that of the LGBTQ + pride parade, one of the largest in the world, and postponed from July to November the March for Jesus, which also attracts millions of people.

Of the 85,238 deaths recorded on Friday in Brazil, a country of 212 million inhabitants, 12,654 were in Rio de Janeiro. Brazil is the second country most affected by the coronavirus, with some 2.3 million people infected since the start of the pandemic and more than 85,000 dead, according to official figures.

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