Lisbon mayor cancels New Year concerts
Carlos Moedas' stance comes a day after the mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira (Independent), cancelled the end-of-year festivities in the northern city due to the pandemic.
The mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas (PSD), said that concerts on New Year’s Eve will be cancelled because “it would create a large gathering of people”, warning that he will announce “major restrictions” in the coming days.
Speaking to CNN Portugal on Thursday night, the social democrat also said that he is “studying whether or not there will be fireworks”.
Carlos Moedas’ stance comes a day after the mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira (Independent), cancelled the end-of-year festivities in the northern city due to the pandemic.
“[…] It was our intention to do the fireworks on the beach, but given the circumstances, we have to adjust,” the mayor explained to the press, on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Christmas lights, at the Crystal Palace.
Covid-19 has caused at least 5,223,072 deaths worldwide, among more than 262.93 million infections by the new coronavirus recorded since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the latest balance of the agency France-Presse.
In Portugal, 18,471 people have died and 1,154,817 cases of infection have been recorded, according to data from the health authority (DGS).
A new variant, Omicron, was recently detected in South Africa, and 19 cases have so far been identified in Portugal.
