Covid-19: Brazil registers 170 deaths and more than 8,000 cases in 24 hours

Brazil registered this Saturday (4) 170 deaths and 8,838 cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. The moving averages of deaths and infections were 198 and 9,078, respectively, according to data from the National Council of Health Secretaries (Conass). Thus, the country accumulates a total of 615,570 deaths and 22,138,247 confirmed infections since the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020.

The Ômicron variant continues to worry authorities in Brazil and around the world. This Saturday morning, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, announced that the city’s New Year’s Eve party, the biggest New Year’s party in the country, is cancelled. The decision, according to Paes, follows the recommendation of the state’s scientific committee. The state governor, Cláudio Castro (PL), gave a new version, in a post on social media. According to Castro, a meeting will be held next week for a final decision on the New Year’s Eve parties. At this meeting, health technicians from the State and the municipality will participate. Unions and associations in the sectors of bars, restaurants and hotels in Rio de Janeiro said they were apprehensive about the news.

At least 24 Brazilian capitals decided not to have a New Year’s Eve party this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the New Year’s Eve parties, Carnival is also threatened with cancellation in many places.

In South Africa, Covid-19 cases have nearly quadrupled in the past three days, underscoring experts’ concerns about how contagious the new variant of the Ômicron coronavirus can be. In Norway, a Christmas party was responsible for infecting at least 13 people with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, and the number could rise to more than 60.