RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 22 (AP): The world-famous carnival celebration in Rio de Janeiro will be held at the end of April instead of the last weekend of February, as the number of coronavirus cases in Brazil spikes and Omicron’s version spread across the country Is. Country.
“The decision was taken in view of the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil and the need to save lives and join forces for a nationwide vaccination campaign at this time,” a statement jointly issued by the cities said on Friday. ” Rio and So Paulo, which also delayed the start of its Carnival parades until April 21.
Earlier in the afternoon, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and his So Paulo counterpart Ricardo Nunes held a video call with their respective health secretaries and samba schools in each city, which were involved in the parade, according to the statement.
Paes announced weeks ago that his city’s street parties, some of which draw hundreds of thousands of people, would not go ahead as before the pandemic, but without clarifying what shape they might take.
He said at the time, however, that the parade of samba schools would proceed as planned through the sambadrome, in light of the relative ease with which vaccination status and negative coronavirus tests can be checked upon entry.
The parade through the Sambadrome is a major tourist attraction for Rio and a central fixture of the city’s pre-Lenten party. It attracts thousands of spectators to its bleachers and tens of millions of views from home. (AP) NSD NSD
(This story has been published as part of an auto-generated Syndicate wire feed. Headline or body have not been edited by ABP Live.)
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