The closed beaches of Rio de Janeiro as an anticovid measure, in images

2021-03-21T16:04:48.017Z

The authorities of the Brazilian city empty its beaches during the weekend before the hard wave of coronavirus that the country is experiencing

1View of Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, this Saturday.
The advance of the coronavirus has forced the city authorities to close its beaches this weekend as part of the efforts to stop a pandemic that has already killed nearly 300,000 people in Brazil.
FLORIAN PLAUCHEUR AFP
2 Two municipal police officers fined two women who did not wear a mask on Leme beach in Rio de Janeiro this Saturday.
During this weekend it is not allowed to stay in the sand, take a bath or play sports, a measure that joins others imposed previously to try to reduce the spread of the virus.
RICARDO MORAES REUTERS
3A man exercises on Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro, this Saturday.
Some of the entrances to Copacabana and Ipanema, two of the most popular, in the southern area of the capital of Rio de Janeiro, were blocked with tapes to indicate the prohibition of passage.
RICARDO MORAES REUTERS
4Copacabana Beach, this Saturday.
The lifeguards also collaborated in this task of ensuring that no one entered the arena.
In recent weeks, the beaches had a high influx of people despite the critical health situation in the city.
André Coelho EFE
5A group of people stand on the rocks on Leme beach, this Saturday.
Rio de Janeiro is one of the Brazilian cities most affected by the pandemic, with almost 20,000 deaths - it is narrowly exceeded by São Paulo, which has twice the population - and about 220,000 infected with coronavirus.
RICARDO MORAES REUTERS
6Copacabana Beach, this Saturday.
The city's public health system is on the edge, with 95% of its intensive care beds occupied, a situation that is repeated practically throughout the country.
Despite this, many people walk down the street without a mask.
RICARDO MORAES REUTERS
7 Copacabana Beach, this Saturday.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who denies the severity of covid-19, criticized the closure of the beaches in the city, its electoral cradle.
André Coelho Efe
8Police agents guard the entrance to Arpoador beach, this Saturday.
"Vitamin D is a way to prevent the virus from reaching you seriously. And where do you get vitamin D? Taking the sun, damn it. It's hypocrisy," Jair Bolsonaro told a group of followers;
a claim, that this vitamin helps reduce the effects of covid-19, which has no scientific evidence.
/ Bruna Prado) AP
9Aerial view of Arpoador, Ipanema and Leblon beaches, this Saturday.
Eduardo Paes, mayor of Rio de Janeiro, was ironic to answer Bolsonaro: "We are clear about the vitamins that we all need to be healthy. One of them is the vitamin of solidarity and against denial of what is happening throughout the world. country. We want to save lives. That is the vitamin that stimulates us, "he said.
EFE