The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, announced, this Saturday, the cancellation of New Year's Eve parties due to covid-19. Thus, Rio de Janeiro joins 21 other regional capitals of Brazil that have already decided to cancel their New Year's Eve parties.

The official said that due to the dimensions of the city there are no conditions to organize the parties while at the same time respecting sanitary measures.

"We respect the science. The City Hall Committee says it can. The state's says no. So it can't. Let's cancel the official New Year's Eve celebration in Rio this way," reads a post on social media.

Other factors that contribute to the cancellation of the end-of-year parties are the logistics, which require a lot of expenses, and time, which is already proving to be scarce.

"[New Year's Eve] will be missed, but the important thing is that we keep vaccinating and saving lives," he added.

This decision is the culmination of a week of debate among authorities in Rio de Janeiro over New Year's Eve celebrations, after the latest variant of the covid-19 virus (omicron) arrived in Brazil.

On Thursday, the municipality decided to impose the need for a covid-19 vaccination passport for entry into spaces such as restaurants, bars, hotels, or hairdressers.