The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, stated that nothing has yet been decided about the Carnival party, even after the Special Committee for Combating Covid-19 (CEEC), of the Municipal Health Department (SMS), has indicated that there is no need for restrictions to hold the event in 2022.
In an agenda this Wednesday (21), Paes highlighted that Carnival is two and a half months away, and that this is not the time for such definition. However, the mayor reinforced that, if the party took place now, within the current rules, it would be held without restrictions – including the parade of street blocks.
“The Committee said that, under the current circumstances, there is no element that makes us have any kind of restriction. But there are still two and a half months to Carnival, so we will make this decision later on. We have to identify that in Carnival there are several manifestations. We have the Samba stadium, which is Sapucaí, there are closed dances and we have the street carnival”, said Paes.
“I hope we are like this until then. And, if so, I’m sure the Committee will once again support the decision to hold Carnival without restrictions. But it is still too early to make any decision”, concluded the mayor.
Although Paes recognized that the realization of street blocks parades is more complex, given the difficult supervision, Rita Fernandes, president of the Independent Association of Street Blocks in the South Zone, Santa Teresa and Downtown (Sebastiana), was optimistic about the return of the blocks to the streets of Rio de Janeiro.
“We were very happy to receive the news of the Scientific Committee’s opinion, mainly because we know that we are winning the pandemic and that the work carried out by the health agencies is being very positive through vaccination and the great adhesion of cariocas. We are very optimistic and we believe that we are going to make the carnival, although we are still alert and vigilant in relation to the pandemic scenario”, celebrated the president.
However, Fernandes agrees with the caution adopted by the mayor and says that it is still early for a final decision. According to Rita, Sebastiana should issue an opinion in mid-January.
“Making Carnival will be an immense joy, but we will still keep a certain amount of vigilance for what will happen after the New Year, after the New Year’s Eve parties. So our final decision will come around the 15th or 20th of January, when we will have a very realistic scenario regarding what happened after the holiday season. The Scientific Committee continues to be our guide and we will always base ourselves precisely on the committee’s opinion”, he said.
AT CNN, the president of the Independent League of Samba Schools of Rio de Janeiro (Liesa), Jorge Perlingeiro, was also optimistic about the performance of the parade next year, celebrated the Committee’s opinion and highlighted the important role of the advance of vaccination in the River.
“We are all very happy and hopeful. The barracks are working at full speed and funds are already arriving through the partnerships signed. This gives us a lot of security”, he highlighted.
Perlingeiro also reinforced that everyone who is going to parade at Sapucaí will have to present proof of vaccination in order to remove their costumes and participate in the party.
Currently, the city of Rio has 5,404,062 people with the complete vaccination cycle, which corresponds to 80.1% of the city’s total population. Of these, 1,364,256 have already received the booster dose.
Reference: CNN Brasil
