Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro City Hall suspends reopening plan due to pandemic surge

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Rio de Janeiro City Hall has decided to suspend the activities relaxation plan, which was to be effective as of September 2. The announcement was made on Wednesday, August 25, in a note released by the Municipal Health Secretariat (SMS).

“Since the first announcement about the plan to reopen the city, in early August, it was stressed that these measures were conditional on a favorable epidemiological scenario, with continued regression of the city’s risk map to moderate and low alerts; and the regularity of vaccine delivery by the Ministry of Health. If these conditions were not met, the planning could be revised,” the SMS explained.

Consequently, the relaxation plan announced by mayor Eduardo Paes in July, foreseeing the almost full reopening of the city for public events, will be deferred. Paes even christened September 2 as the Day of the Reunion, when restrictions would be lifted for several activities.

“Given the recent increase in the number of cases of the disease due to the spread of the Delta variant, the reversal of the entire risk map to moderate alert, and the Special Committee for Tackling Covid-19 (CEEC) recommendation, the reopening plan has been deferred,” the secretariat said.