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The Rio de Janeiro metropolis govt declared on Saturday that the city’s popular New Year’s Eve celebration will be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, the metropolis govt reported that the event, which draws thousands and thousands of persons to the iconic Copacabana beach each and every yr, “is not viable in the pandemic circumstance, without the existence of a vaccine.”

The statement explained the city’s tourism bureau will soon present substitute party proposals to Mayor Marcelo Crivella that are “with no in-individual attendance, in a digital structure” and that consider into account “an atmosphere of reflection and hope in the encounter of so a lot of losses.”

The long term of Rio de Janeiro’s pre-Lenten Carnival samba performances and road parties, which usually take position in February, is still uncertain.

The town government’s statement suggests that the nearby tourism bureau is awaiting an formal posture from the Impartial League of Samba Universities, the body which signifies the thousands-strong samba schools that compete in elaborate performances all through Carnival. The statement said there is no official final decision nonetheless about whether block functions in the road will be canceled during Carnival.

Rio de Janeiro’s announcement follows neighboring São Paulo’s conclusion to postpone its Carnival celebration to May well or June next 12 months, in spite of the fact that Carnival’s date is pegged to the spiritual holiday getaway of Easter and Lent. 

Earlier in July, the city of São Paulo introduced that its New 12 months celebrations would be canceled this year.