Rio de Janeiro canceled its official end of the year party this Saturday, to which millions of tourists come from all over the world every year, after the first cases of coronavirus associated with the Omicron variant were detected in Brazil.
“We are going to cancel the official celebration of ‘Réveillon’ in Rio. I make the decision with sadness, but we cannot organize the celebration without the guarantee of all the health authorities,” announced Mayor Eduardo Paes on his social networks.
The leader explained that The scientific committee of the City Council was in favor of the festivities but that of the State of Rio did not, and decided to accept the “more restrictive” recommendation because his government “respects science.”
“I hope I can be in Copacabana hugging everyone in the change from 2022 to 2023. It will be missed this year, but the most important thing is that we continue to vaccinate and save lives,” Paes wrote on Twitter.
With this announcement, Rio becomes the capital number 21 of the 27 that Brazil has to cancel the end of the year celebrations to avoid massive coronavirus infections, in a country where 21.2 million people were infected with Covid-19 and 615 thousand have died.
The appearance of the Omicron variant
The appearance of the Omicron variant, so far in six patients, raised the alarm not only in Brazil but in the region.
The latest case was detected on Friday in Santa Cruz do Sul, in a woman who returned from a trip to South Africa last week.
The woman, who was vaccinated with the two doses of the vaccine, is isolated at home and is supervised by the city’s health surveillance, the Agencia Brasil news agency reported.
Given the confirmation of the new variant in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, bordering Argentina and Uruguay, the authorities reinforced the health recommendations, highlighting the need to wear masks, maintain social distance and, above all, complete the vaccination schedule.
In addition to the case of Rio Grande do Sul, the Ministry of Health has already confirmed five cases of infection by the Omicron variant in the country, three in São Paulo and two in Brasilia. The patients are isolated and the majority asymptomatic.
.