Big Brazilian cities paying the price after New Year coronavirus breaches

On Monday morning, the streets of Belo Horizonte lay quiet as one of Brazil’s biggest cities entered its third coronavirus lockdown since the beginning of the pandemic. Only essential businesses are allowed to open and the measure will remain in place indefinitely, as the city experiences a worrying surge in Covid-19 cases. Indeed, this scenario is set to repeat in major urban centers across Brazil.

Despite cancellations and tighter restrictions in almost every Brazilian city, a large part of the population paid no heed to the warnings and enjoyed their end-of-year holidays as normal.

Besides engaging in the traditional shopping rush, gatherings with family and friends were commonplace on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. And, in the January heat, throngs descended on the country’s beaches to enjoy a bit of sun and sand before returning to work. Now, it seems, Brazil will have to pay the piper.