(Newswire.net — February 7, 2016) —The carnival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, started last Friday. As tradition dictates, the mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, handed the keys to the city to King Momo. The culmination of the most famous carnival in the world, which lasts five days, will be the samba schools parade at the Sambadrome, a purpose-built stadium for the parade in downtown Rio de Janeiro.
As expected, the carnival will be attended by a million tourists and several million local residents. All of this is happening at the worst time for Brazil due to the rising danger of the Zika virus, which is spreading very fast, warns the World Health Organization.
By the end of January, six Brazilian provinces declared a state of emergency because the number of babies born with microcephaly suddenly jumped from 147 in 2014 to 2,400 in 2015. The authorities in Brazil have urged women to delay childbearing due to the high number of babies being born with this abnormality as it is suspected to have been caused by the Zika virus.
This virus is spread primarily via mosquito bite, but it is assumed that it may be possible to transfer it by kissing or through sexual intercourse.
There is no vaccine or medicine to prevent Zika.
Due to this fact, foreign governments are urging tourists to avoid countries in which the most number of those infected by the Zika virus have appeared, with Brazil being one of them.
Shortly before the Carnival started, the government of Rio de Janeiro announced its plan and program of disinsection to locations with the most mosquito larvae.
In addition to the virus, Brazil is confronted with a deep recession and economic crisis, which has affected the carnival industry too.
Dance schools in Rio de Janeiro complained that the city funds were emptied, and that they do not have enough sponsors.
Everybody is complaining: the directors of samba schools, souvenir merchants, restaurants and hotels owners. All have said that the situation has been difficult for the last four or five years but this year is even worse as they are all in crisis and the prices are constantly rising.
Carnival costume sellers are also complaining about the crisis and shortage of money. The shops are quite empty, there are not as many tourists as in the previous years, and those that are there spend less money, explained those who expect to earn money from the Carnival in Brazil.
It is uncertain whether the situation will improve by August, when Rio de Janeiro will be the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics. Brazilian authorities are very concerned that the epidemic of the Zika virus could cause damage to the sporting event.
The Rio Carnival reaches its peak on Sunday and Monday night when representatives of the most famous samba schools compete at the Sambadrome to showcase their exceptional choreography and costumes.