Only one in nine Brazilians wants Carnival celebrations in 2022

Earlier this year, the "City of Samba" was closed for sanitary reasons. Photo: Fernando Frazão/ABr

A new poll by PoderData shows that 87 percent of Brazilians are against holding street parades during Carnival in late February. Despite Brazil’s advanced vaccination rates — with 75 percent of people having at least one dose and 65 percent of citizens fully immunized — the surge of the Omicron coronavirus variant has left 49 percent of Brazilians “very worried” about the outlook of the pandemic.

British researchers estimate that it is taking only two to three days for cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant to double.

Interestingly, concerns about Carnival 2022 have broken party lines, with similar rates among voters who reject and approve of President Jair Bolsonaro.

As The Brazilian Report showed last week, President Bolsonaro is using Covid-19 as an excuse to call for next year’s Carnival to be canceled. The move is actually part of a broader quest from conservative politicians against Brazil’s most popular festival — often characterized by transgressions which right-wing leaders deem too libertine.

Moreover, Carnival parades tend to be heavily charged with political undertones, often to the detriment of the government du jour. The thin-skinned Mr. Bolsonaro doesn’t want to be on the receiving end of jibes by revelers.