The Minister of Health of Rio de Janeiro denies the official decision to cancel New Year’s Eve

The Minister of Health of Rio de Janeiro state, Alexander Ship, denied that the technical support group that advises the state health department to deal with the current scenario of Covid-19 has issued any document that includes a recommendation to cancel New Year’s Eve.

The information contradicts with Mayor Eduardo Paes, who announced, Saturday (04), that he had taken a decision to cancel the party after the scientific committee of the state government recommended not holding the event.

SES-RJ confirmed that the group is defending the non-fulfillment today, but only on December 15 there will be final word on New Year’s Eve 2022. Chieppe reported that the current recommendation was not yet valid as a final position on the subject.

Now, a decision will be made to be made by December 15 based on new knowledge that may emerge, primarily about the micron variant.

Despite Mayor Eduardo Paes confirming the cancellation of New Year’s Eve, Governor Claudio Castro announced on social media moments later that both would meet with state and municipal health technicians this week for a joint announcement of the event. Pace has not commented on this post.

Over the course of the week, the technical support group advising SES-RJ was evaluated at a meeting and, as a precaution, it would be wise to indicate that events with the cluster are suspended even in open environments.

However, the topic will be discussed again at another meeting in the next 15 days, in order to better understand the dynamics of the micron variable. The country already has six confirmed cases. Only after this meeting will the Ministry of Foreign Affairs take an official position on the end-of-year celebrations.

On the subject, the technical support group advising SES-RJ directed municipalities to “monitor cases of symptomatic travelers from any country, for a period of 14 days, in light of the emergence of the new alternative”.

The considerations endorsed in this Friday’s meeting minutes (3) also highlighted the potential risk of the virus spreading at major events with the circulation of people of different origins.