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Brazil: access to Rio beaches blocked for New Year

2020-12-28T22:07:59.758Z


The city hall of Rio de Janeiro, a Mecca for tourism in Brazil, announced Monday the closure of access to beaches for the New Year in order to avoid gatherings in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The municipality must publish by the end of the day a decree prohibiting in particular the circulation and parking of any vehicle along the coast of the city, where several million people usually gathe


The city hall of Rio de Janeiro, a Mecca for tourism in Brazil, announced Monday the closure of access to beaches for the New Year in order to avoid gatherings in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The municipality must publish by the end of the day a decree prohibiting in particular the circulation and parking of any vehicle along the coast of the city, where several million people usually gather to welcome the new year, with sumptuous fires fireworks.

Read also: In Brazil, Bolsonaro on an anti-vaccine campaign

"We must send a firm message to the population,"

said Alexandre Cardeman, head of the City Hall Operations Center, responsible in particular for the coordination of security and traffic by video surveillance at a press conference.

"The decree is a tool to avoid large gatherings of people, but beyond the restrictions, it should be remembered that it depends on each of us: have a reasonable New Year by staying at home

," he continued.

Last week, the town hall had already announced that the emblematic district of Copacabana, where most of the festivities are usually concentrated, will be fully cordoned off from 8 p.m. on December 31.

Only the inhabitants of this district will have the right to access it.

"

Nothing like the images of an empty Copacabana beach to pay tribute

" to the victims of Covid-19, insisted Alexandre Cardeman.

The decree should extend this measure to all traffic lanes that give access to the coast, over more than 30 kilometers, with around 40 police checkpoints installed at strategic points.

This measure also concerns public transport, including the metro, which will not serve neighborhoods located near beaches.

Only taxis carrying residents of these neighborhoods will be able to circulate.

The municipality has also banned all fireworks, including those fired by individuals.

The grandiose New Year's festivities in Copacabana had already been canceled as early as July.

The town hall had initially planned a virtual celebration, including online musical performances, before announcing its outright cancellation two weeks ago.

Brazil is hit hard by the second wave of Covid-19 contamination.

The pandemic has claimed more than 191,000 lives nationwide, the second-worst death toll after the United States.

Nearly 15,000 people have died from the new coronavirus in the city of Rio de Janeiro, with a death rate of 216 per 100,000, more than double the national average.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2020-12-28

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