Rio Is Reopening for Business: Street Trade Came Back on Saturday

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After three months of restrictions due to the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic, street trade in the city of Rio de Janeiro opened its doors again on Saturday, from 11 AM to 5 PM, with authorization from Mayor Marcelo Crivella.

The plan to relax the actions to fight Covid-19 in the city provided for the release of street trade only on July 2nd, but the measure was brought forward by Crivella. According to the City Hall, the early opening occurred after an assessment by the scientific council advising the Mayor on pandemic-related measures.

The street-accessed beauty salons are also cleared to operate at the same time as stores. Beauty salons have been allowed to operate since June 22nd, provided they are located inside shopping malls. Street salons may now also reopen, but only hair and manicure services may be offered – waxing, eyebrow design, and other services are still banned.

Stores must operate at half capacity and doors must be kept open for airing. Staff and customers need to keep their distance and the bathrooms must offer hand-washing supplies. On the other hand, beauty salons may host a maximum of one-third of full capacity, with no waiting lines, scheduled in advance. Food or drinks are not allowed to be served.

In practice, many street stores had already reopened in the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro, although they had not yet been allowed to open. In Copacabana (south zone), household utensils, clothes, and shoe stores operated as usual on Friday, June 27th, the day before the City Hall released them.

According to the Mayor, the death toll in Rio is dropping. On Thursday, June 25th, the municipality of Rio held 164 funerals, while on the same day last year, without Covid-19, there were 200. “Yesterday we had 36 fewer funerals than on June 25th, 2019, which truly proves that the curves are dropping,” he said.

Crivella confirmed that bars, restaurants, and gyms will be allowed to reopen as of Thursday, July 2nd. Bars and restaurants will be allowed to open until 11 PM, and gyms will have to schedule attendance to prevent crowds.

Source: Exame