RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – One of the most famous samba school “carnavalescos” (Carnaval directors), Luiz Fernando Ribeiro do Carmo, known as Laíla, died this Friday, June 18, at the age of 78, as a result of Covid-19 . The information was confirmed by samba school Beija-Flor.
“Laíla leaves behind a legion of admirers who saw him revolutionize the show at the Marquês de Sapucaí in more than 50 years of work,” reads the statement of the school where he worked for almost 30 years.
The carnavalesco, who had worked with a half-dozen samba schools in his career, was admitted to the intensive care unit of Hospital Israelita Albert Sabin in Tijuca, in Rio’s North Zone. Laíla had a cardiac arrest around 11:30 AM this Friday.
In March of this year, Laíla posted on a social network a photo of receiving the first dose of the vaccine against Covid-19. According to epidemiologists, no vaccine is 100% effective, but a vaccinated person is much less likely to be infected with the virus than an unvaccinated person.