Coronavirus
Rio postpones carnival parades again due to pandemic
Samba schools are already preparing for the carnival. Now the moves in Brazil have been postponed again. Photo: Bruna Prado/AP/dpa
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Despite the uncertainty, samba schools have been preparing for months. Now, however, Rio de Janeiro has postponed the famous carnival parades again because of Corona. Is there still hope?
In the midst of a new corona wave, the Brazilian metropolis of Rio de Janeiro has again postponed the world-famous carnival parades.
“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,” the Rio city government tweeted. 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. Mayor Paes canceled the street carnival in Rio earlier this month for the second time in a row. 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. There, controls to protect against infection are easier to implement, said Paes.
Fear of losing millions
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. A corona-related cancellation would mean another loss of millions after the 2021 failure. Despite the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, samba schools have been preparing for the possible moves for months.
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.
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.