As the vaccination campaign continues, the number of corona deaths in Brazil is falling. The optimism that the street carnival could take place in Rio grew. Now there is clarity.
Rio de Janeiro – The Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro has canceled the world-famous street carnival for the second time in a row due to the corona pandemic.
Mayor Eduardo Paes announced the decision in a broadcast on social media after meeting representatives of carnival groups. The reason given was that admission controls and compliance with other corona measures at the street carnival, for which hundreds of groups had registered in Rio, were practically impossible. According to Brazilian television, the mayor’s decision was well received by the groups known as “Blocos”, despite their mourning over the failure of the street festival.
Sambodrome plan open
According to the news portal “G1”, the Rio Carnival in its last edition in 2020 attracted more than three million people to the streets within four days. The plans for the legendary parades in the Sambodrome in February and March will be upheld for the time being. Controls to protect against infection are easier to implement there, said Paes.
In Brazil, according to official information, more than 22 million of the country’s 210 million residents have been infected with the corona virus. Around 618,000 patients have died in connection with Covid-19 – there are only more deaths in the USA. 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 are now fully vaccinated. Since the first infections with the new Omikron variant were detected in Brazil at the beginning of December, the number of positive tests – influenced by Christmas and New Year’s Eve – has recently increased again. dpa
