During Holy Week, celebrated by Christians throughout Brazil, only Friday, the day of Christ's Passion, is considered a national holiday. For some cities, states and companies, however, the holiday begins on Thursday and runs until Sunday.
Check out what will be open and what is closed in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro between March 28th and 31st.
Easter holiday in São Paulo
State hospitals maintain normal operations for emergency care, both in emergency rooms and in hospitalization sectors and surgical centers.
For those thinking of enjoying the holiday by doing a good deed, only the Pró-Sangue Dante Pazzanese and Osasco blood donation stations will be open on Friday and Saturday from 8am to 4pm. The remaining stations will not open.
The units of Farmácia Dose Certa, the Elderly Reference Center (CRI Norte) and the Instituto Paulista de Geriatria e Gerontologia (IPGG), in the East Zone of the capital, are not open on Friday.
In relation to Specialized Medicines Pharmacies (FME), on Thursday the FME São Caetano do Sul, FME Campinas-Unicamp, FME Heliópolis, FME São Bernardo do Campo and FME Sorocaba units will be closed, the other units in the network will have normal opening hours. On Friday, the FME São Bernardo do Campo unit will be open from 7am to 1pm. The remaining units will be closed.
Specialty Medical Outpatient Clinics (AMEs) will also not open.
If you are going to use your free time to resolve bureaucracy, remember that Poupatempo stations throughout the state will be closed on Friday, but will reopen normally the following day. The only exception is in Orlândia which, due to a municipal holiday, resumes activities only on Monday (1).
Important: to be attended in person, it is mandatory to make an appointment in advance, requested at no cost through official channels. Digital channels will continue to work and are also an option.
In a statement, the state government informed that restaurants in the Bom Prato Program will open for lunch throughout the holiday, including a special Easter menu.
All 73 fixed units in the state will serve fish for lunch on Good Friday, feijoada on Saturday and again a special menu on Easter Sunday.
Lunch is served at 10:30 am, preferably for seniors, and at 11 am for the public.
Operation of metropolitan transport in São Paulo during Easter
Are you going to enjoy the holiday away from home? Stay tuned, as metropolitan transport will have changes in operation.
On Friday (29), the five CPTM lines (7-Ruby, 10-Turquoise, 11-Coral, 12-Sapphire and 13-Jade) will run at intervals equal to those of a holiday. On Saturday and Easter Sunday, the average intervals will be the same as on weekends.
For those taking the subway, subway lines 1-Blue, 2-Green, 3-Red and 15-Silver will run with a holiday schedule on Friday. On Saturday and Sunday the fleet will be equivalent to that on weekends. The operation will be monitored and, if necessary, reserve trains will be added.
Easter holiday in Rio de Janeiro
In a decree on March 19, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, defined that on Holy Thursday (28) it will be an optional point in municipal public offices.
Health units with 24-hour service from the municipal health network will remain open between March 28th and 31st. The Super Carioca Vaccination Center, in Botafogo, will be open every day, from 8am to 10pm.
The Super Centro Carioca de Saúde, in Benfica, will open normally at the optional point on Thursday and Saturday. On Friday's national holiday, it will not work. The Carioca Super Center for Vaccination at the Parkshopping Campo Grande unit will operate according to the mall's opening hours.
Primary Care units — municipal health centers, family clinics, psychosocial care centers, polyclinics and municipal rehabilitation centers — will only operate from 8 am to 12 pm at the optional point on and on Saturday.
Rio's metropolitan transport during Easter
According to Metrô Rio, the operation of trains and subways on the surface will operate on a holiday basis on Good Friday, from 7am to 11pm. On Saturday, opening hours are from 5am to midnight. On Easter Sunday, from 7am to 11pm.
During the four days of the holiday, transfers between lines 1 and 2 will take place on the stretch between General Osório/Ipanema and Central do Brasil/Centro stations.
On Supervia trains, train circulation on Friday will follow the timetable for Sundays and holidays.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
