“The moment calls for prudence”, says mayor of Recife after canceling New Year’s Eve

The capital of Pernambuco is one of 22 capitals that announced the cancellation of New Year’s Eve due to concerns about the pandemic after the emergence of the Ômicron variant of the new coronavirus. THE CNN, the mayor of Recife, João Campos, stated that the “moment calls for prudence”.

This Saturday (4), the city of Rio de Janeiro also announced the cancellation of one of the biggest New Year’s Eve parties in Brazil and joined the list of capitals that decided not to allow public gatherings at the end of the year.

Campos revealed that the decision in Recife was taken “for security” in view of the arrival of Ômicron in Brazil. Currently, the country has six confirmed cases of the new strain.

“We are not going to promote large-scale public parties. We don’t think it’s healthy to do this now. There is still the possibility of partying indoors with a vaccination card and protocols.”

The Pernambuco capital continued to burn fires without any explosions, but will not allow for agglomerations.

Carrying out of Carnival is discussed with other capitals

With the arrival of Ômicron, the realization of the Carnival was also questioned. According to the mayor, the possibility of canceling the party or not is being discussed among municipal managers in Rio de Janeiro, Recife, Salvador, São Paulo and Belo Horizonte.

“We held a technical meeting and presented the protocols developed for an eventual Carnival. We will have a second meeting this week and we must meet to reach a consensus decision. If we define it together, we will bring security to Brazil”, he said.

According to Campos, the group’s decision may have an impact in other capitals that are also evaluating the possibility of holding Carnival. There is no deadline for taking a decision, but some positioning is expected by the beginning of January.

“There is no deadline, there is a schedule for meetings. The third [reunião] must have the presence of mayors. End of this month or beginning of January we must make a decision. Ômicron is uncertain what impact it will have.”