The Congress of Mayors could not reach an agreement to unify criteria and protocols for the performance of Carnival shows and other types of public events, so each department will apply the measures it deems pertinent in its respective jurisdiction.
This is how it was defined this Thursday after a long session in which the communal chiefs analyzed the health situation in the country and its impact on activities that lead to the gathering of large numbers of the public, in the middle of the escalation of covid-19 infections who has lived in the country for several weeks.
At the impulse of the nationalists, who in the previous days had maintained unofficial contacts, the mayors formally analyzed what to do with the Carnival in this context of increased cases and high incidence caused by the omicron variant.
While several communes have already taken measures and postponed the holding of certain events, others made clear their desire for the Carnival to continue normally. That is why, when passing the line in Congress, The decision was for each department to define – in the exercise of its autonomy – the best according to its own circumstances, as confirmed to The Observer the mayor of Salto, Andrés Lima.
“It was seen that each department is a different story, each one has its characteristics and that there cannot be a single solution for all”, he explained. After some discussion, a consensus was reached that the situation is “very dynamic” and that each place maintains different realities that make it impossible to adopt a common criterion.
The mayor of Río Negro, the nationalist Omar Lafluf, expressed himself in the same sense. On the one hand, he pointed out, there is the case of Artigas, whose head, Pablo Caram, argued before his colleagues that his department “cannot not do” the Carnival. On the other hand, Durazno, Canelones, Florida and Treinta y Tres were willing to agree, depending on their situation, on a common position at the national level. “The realities are totally different”, Lafluf.
Regarding the carnival in his department, he maintained that “it is much smaller and also there is no admission charge, so – among other things – a vaccination certificate could not be required.”
Thus, Artigas, Montevideo and Cerro Largo They will keep the schedule they had planned unchanged, unless there is a contrary indication from the national government, something that is not in the pipeline so far. The Minister of Public Health, Daniel Salinas, said on Wednesday when being interviewed in El Espectador that “today the vaccination situation is different” so “we are not going to go to a closure of activities.”
The strongest in this position was the community chief of Artiguense, Pablo Caram, who announced that the traditional local carnival, which attracts thousands of people, will be held without alterations in the three days planned. Caram also alleged contractual situations already defined long ago and commitments assumed that would make it impossible to go back.
The director of Culture of the Municipality of Montevideo, María Inés Obaldía, pointed out for her part The Observer that the planned schedule is maintained unless otherwise provided by the competent health authority. After the Inaugural Parade this Thursday, the great challenge for the capital city will be the Parade of Calls, on February 3 and 4 in the Sur and Palermo neighborhoods.
May God enlighten me
Some municipalities in the interior defined particular measures in the last few hours. With “much pain” the mayor of Durazno, Carmelo Vidalin announced the postponement, still without date, of several events, among them the National Festival of Fogón, the Gaucho Meeting and the Interior Calls Festival.
As he stated, they were very thoughtful decisions for several days, in which he asked God to “enlighten” them. Vidalín said that he even consulted the Minister of Public Health, Daniel Salinas, who recommended that he hold the events but require the two vaccines and exhort to receive the third.
However, Vidalín “looked at the numbers”, which showed him that, on this same date last year, Durazno had 89 active cases and today there are 1,798, according to the official registry. In his opinion, that was enough to ask himself what would happen if he enabled the realization of these events and “the next day the CTI rooms were filled with covid-infested peaches.” Or what if they start dying. “They are going to start pointing fingers at us,” said the mayor, beyond the decoupling that cases and hospitalizations have shown.
Durazno also began negotiations with the Uruguayan Football Association to achieve the postponement of the Super Cup final, scheduled to be played on January 30 at the Silvestre Landoni Stadium. What will be maintained will be the annual meeting of Un Solo Uruguay, which this Sunday will bring together some 300 people in the department.
Another of the municipalities that rescheduled the Carnival was that of Florida. According to Mayor Guillermo López, the decision was made to avoid the total cancellation of activities. In that department, only the traditional parade will take place along Independencia Street, in the departmental capital. It will be on Saturday March 5th. Meanwhile, on April 8 it will be the turn of the Llamadas parade along Artigas Avenue. The tablados or similar events in the different municipalities of the department are maintained.
In Cannelloni, Mayor Yamandú Orsi decided to reschedule the Carnival contests and parades. The first round of the contests will take place between February 25 and 28. The parades, meanwhile, still have no confirmed date. The tablados in that department will continue with their normal activity although under the “maximum sanitary measures” between February 4 and 26.
In Maldonado The general director of Culture, Jorge Céspedes, reported this Thursday the suspension of the neighborhood parades due to the health situation. In any case, he confirmed that a Carnival parade will be held and stages will be installed in each municipality of the department from February 12 to 28. There, he reported, a sanitary protocol will govern and, despite the fact that these are outdoor events, there will be delimited perimeters to promote distancing. Two fixed stages will be installed in the capital of the department, while other mobiles will travel to different points. In San Carlos, the administration confirmed the holding of the departmental murgas contest, which will take place between February 21 and 27.
Jump It had been the first department to confirm, this Tuesday, the rescheduling of activities. There will be no carnival parade, public shows and activities at the Ateneo or the Teatro Larrañaga. According to Lima, “150 and 200 daily cases of covid-19” are expected in his department for the next “40 or 45 days,” based on data from the Departmental Directorate of Health. For this reason, for the Intendancy “the risk that is run when carrying out parades with thousands of Salta residents in February is very high,” according to the mayor, who assured that the parades will be rescheduled for March.
In any case, the northern department will maintain the carnival contest at the Víctor Lima summer theater in Harriague Park, with strict protocols, mandatory vaccination against the coronavirus, and limited capacity.
