MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil, Judge orders beaches and bars of Rio de Janeiro must go back to business as usual

“Not even a very serious pandemic like the one we are facing authorizes the restriction of the individual rights of Cariocas,” said the magistrate.

The beaches of Rio de Janeiro were allowed to start welcoming visitors again since Wednesday, following a court order which found Mayor Eduardo Paes' ban was unconstitutional.

 

Judge Regina Chuquer of Rio's VI Court of Justice said that ”not even a very serious pandemic like the one we are facing authorizes the restriction of the individual rights of Cariocas (people of Rio de Janeiro).“

 

As per the new ruling, people can go to the beaches and stay there, shows and nightclubs can be reopened, and bars can return to their usual operating hours.

Deputy Anderson Moraes, linked to Rio de Janeiro's Bolsonarism, and the one who sought a judicial remedy to the situation, said the mayor's ban was unacceptable, even though beach activity could not return to normal on Wednesday due to rainy weather.

Meanwhile, scores of volunteers have been deployed around the less favoured areas of Rio de Janeiro to assist the pandemic's homeless with at least one daily meal through the ”Covid sem fome” (Covid without hunger) project. The current number of beneficiaries is considerably lower than a year ago when about 1,000 daily portions of rice, beans, meat and salad were delivered.

Brazil has more than 210 million inhabitants, with more than 14 million infected and about 380,000 deaths. Rio de Janeiro, the third most populous city in the country, with about 7 million inhabitants, adds 22,714 deaths and more than 247,000 infections.