(CNN) — Carnival celebrations in Brazil have had one other setback due to a spike in Covid-19 instances.
In a joint assertion from their well being departments on Friday, the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro introduced the postponement of their official Carnival parades due to the unfold of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The transfer comes simply weeks after the cities canceled their casual avenue parades.
The parades had been initially scheduled between February 25 and March 5.
The official web sites of the samba college leagues of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro additionally present some particulars concerning the new dates.
In line with the Liga SP in São Paulo, the parade will happen “through the interval of Tiradentes financial institution vacation (April 21). In the meantime, Liesa, Rio’s league, says the native parades will occur on April 22, 23 and 30.
The official Carnival parades in Rio and São Paulo happen in particular constructions often called “Sambadromes.”
São Paulo and Rio see instances skyrocket
The joint assertion from the well being departments supplied numbers that indicated the sharp improve in Covid instances in each cities.
The final two weeks of 2021 noticed the variety of confirmed instances bounce from 9,476 to 18,513 in São Paulo and from 1,113 to 9,752 instances in Rio de Janeiro from one week to the subsequent.
Within the first week of 2022, instances had gone as much as 40,979 instances in São Paulo and 50,857 in Rio de Janeiro.
Prime picture: Carnival is a long-standing custom. This picture was taken on the 2017 celebrations. (Courtesy Buda Mendes/Getty Photographs South America/Getty Photographs)