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In this file photo taken on June 2, 2020, a man uses a cell phone on Arpoador beach in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, during the new coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19. Photo by MAURO PIMENTEL / AFP
RIO DE JANEIRO – Rio de Janeiro authorities announced Monday that they will block access to the beach on the night of December 31 to avoid crowds in one of the Brazilian cities hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
The measures will include a vehicle ban along some 30 kilometers (19 miles) 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.
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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