Brazil bans Copacabana New Year’s party – The Manila Times



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RIO DE JANEIRO: Authorities in the Brazilian capital announced on Monday (Tuesday in Manila) that they would block access to the world-famous Copacabana beach on the night of December 31 to avoid crowds in one of the cities most affected by the pandemic coronavirus.

The measures will include a vehicle ban along some 30 kilometers of Rio’s coastline, where millions of people typically gather every December 31 to ring in the new year with elaborate fireworks displays.

Only residents of the surrounding neighborhoods will be able to walk around the area. Violations can be sanctioned with fines of up to 15,000 reais ($ 2,800).

“We have to send a tough and direct message to the population,” said Alexandre Cardeman, head of the Rio Operations Center, which is in charge of security and video surveillance of traffic.

“What we want to make clear, beyond these restrictions, is that a lot depends on us,” he said. “Spend a conscious New Year and stay home.”

Last week, the mayor’s office announced that the entrance to the Copacabana neighborhood, the center of the traditional New Year’s festivities, would be prohibited from 8:00 p.m. on December 31.

The iconic beach, which gained world fame after Barry Manilow sang about it in 1978, is one of Brazil’s top attractions comparable to the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Taj Mahal in India.

Police barriers will be erected to block both public transport and private vehicles, and the metro will stop running in those areas.

The mayor’s office had initially planned a virtual celebration with online music shows, but canceled any official events two weeks ago.

Brazil, with more than 191,000 deaths, has the second highest death toll from the coronavirus pandemic, after the United States.

In Rio alone, the death toll is more than 15,000, with a mortality rate of 216 per 100,000 inhabitants, more than double the national average.



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