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“It would be irresponsible”, says Rui Costa, governor of Bahia, about Carnaval in 2022

Despite the anxiety of Brazilians for the big events in 2022, the new variant of the coronavirus and the influenza Influenza have made many governors debate which events should be held next year. And the governor of Bahia, Rui Costa, has already declared this Thursday (23) that Carnival will not happen.

In an interview with CNN, he informed that “it would be irresponsible to carry out the event”. His justification is that in November, Bahia had 180 patients in hospital beds and, since then, the number has grown 50%. “We had 2,000 cases of Covid-19, today it has reached 3,000,” he said.

“And worse, we have the new variant [Ômicron] circulating, in addition to Influenza”, said the governor. At least five Brazilian states recorded deaths from the H3N2 variant of the influenza virus, totaling 12 deaths.

Costa declared that it is not possible to carry out Carnival in the same way as happened in recent years. “Otherwise, it would be putting the lives of Bahians at risk,” he says.

However, to the delight of many revelers, in January, the governor will meet with the state’s mayors to debate what measures can be taken to ensure that the event takes place in a reduced form.

Today, Bahia allows events for up to 5,000 people indoors, provided that only people who have taken the three doses of the vaccine are present.

“I saw that several states announced similar measures throughout December,” says the governor. This Thursday (23), the Official Gazette of São Paulo published a list of 24 street blocks that canceled participation in the 2022 event.

Costa stated that the cancellation could have a big impact on Bahia’s economy, “but above that, the most important thing is life.”

For him, the solution to treat the pandemic is to have a “coordination” to guide and organize major events.” We are in a situation in which the STF (Supreme Federal Court) takes action, as the Ministry [da Saúde] they abstain from playing their role”, he declares.

Questioned by CNN, the city of Salvador informed that it will not comment on the matter: “There will be no declaration from the City Hall at the moment.”

* supervised by Layane Serrano

Reference: CNN Brasil

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