Jan 22, 2022 - World

Rio de Janeiro postpones Carnival parades due to COVID-19 surge

Erin Doherty

The Rio de Janeiro Carnival champions' parade at the Sapucai Sambadrome on Feb. 29, 2020, in Brazil. Photo: Bruna Prado/Getty Images

The Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo on Friday postponed Carnival parades until the end of April due to rising COVID-19 cases, Reuters reports.

Driving the news: The cities had already canceled the Carnival street parties, but they were planning to still have the Carnival parade on the final weekend of February.

"The decision was made respecting for the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil and the need, at this time, to preserve lives and join forces to drive vaccination throughout the country," a joint statement from the cities of Rio and Sao Paulo said, NBC News reports.

The big picture: The announcement comes as Brazil faces a spike in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, with an average of almost 120,000 cases a day over the last seven days.

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Rio de Janeiro postpones Carnival parades due to COVID-19 surge

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