Rio de Janeiro cancels popular New Year’s celebrations due to COVID

The mayor of Rio de Janiero, Brazil announced on Saturday that the city’s New Year’s Eve celebrations were being called off.

Mayor Eduardo Pas said the decision was made “with sadness” but with respect for the science.

"We respect science," Paes tweeted, explaining that the city and state had differing opinions on the need to cancel, so he opted for the most restrictive one.

"The city's committee says it can go ahead and the state's says no. So it can't take place. Let's cancel the official New Year's Eve celebration in Rio," the tweet continues.

Rio’s end-of-year party usually attracts millions of residents and tourists to Copacabana beach.

"I am very sad as mayor and personally. The New Year's Eve celebration in Rio is one of the most incredible and incomparable parties in the world," Paes said at a press conference.

This will be the second year in a row that New Year’s festivities have been canceled in the city due to COVID.

Official figures show Brazil registered 221 COVID deaths the day before, along with 10,627 additional cases. 

The largest country in South America has recorded a total of 615,400 coronavirus deaths and 22,129,409 confirmed cases. The number of deaths is the second highest total in the world after the United States.

Claudio Castro, the governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, left open the possibility of reversing the decision. In a tweet following the announcement , Castro said that he and said Paes agreed to hold a meeting next week with local health authorities “to make a final decision.”