Brazilians’ Radically Changed New Year’s Eve Plans: No Parties, No Hugs

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – By last Friday, December 11th, Brazil had totaled over 180,000 Covid-19 deaths and 6.8 million cases. With the increase in the numbers of the disease nationwide, many people have already changed plans for the turn of the year. Some have cancelled trips and gatherings and others have decided to remain more reclusive, away from crowds and their own relatives.

In the state of São Paulo, where New Year’s Eve parties are banned in bars, restaurants and hotels, the government urges families to celebrate at home with a maximum of ten people – and with no elderly present. The recommendation also includes the wearing of masks and social distancing.

Digital influencer Thaix Alves, 29, intends to spend New Year’s Eve with only those she lives with: her fiancé, Fabrício, 26, and her daughter, Lilyan Vitória, 10. “We always travel, I go to Rio, I go to Copacabana beach, I have a family barbecue. This year everything changed. My girl understood it well. There was a whole process during the year,” says Alves, who currently lives in Belo Horizonte (MG).

All her plans for this year have been deferred. “My mother already had Covid. Nevertheless, you can’t be careless. I’ve always been among the people, but now it will be impossible. I didn’t know it would last this long,” she says.

Fernanda Fiuza, 41, a dentist from Minas Gerais, decided to cancel her flight to Paris, France. The plan was to spend the New Year’s Eve right in front of the Eiffel Tower, but the coronavirus didn’t allow it. “We’re going to spend it at home, just me, my son and my husband. We were also going to church on the 31st, another changed plan,” says Fiuza, who is married to SBT’s stage assistant, Liminha. They will also be joined by Bidu and Minie, Maltese breed dogs.

If the change of schedule weren’t enough, she still had to endure the pain of canceling her trip. But she has no regrets. “It was a difficult decision, we planned ahead, but with pandemic we can’t risk it. I’m in the healthcare area and more than anything I have to strengthen prevention”.

Model and actress Denise Dias, 31, decided that she will spend New Year’ Eve only with her mother in a resort in Bahia, according to all the guidelines and protocols to prevent Covid. Both have already been infected with the disease. “It is a more isolated place and the number of visitors is limited. As I have already had the disease, I made a point of making sure of everything. ”

She says she has never been a fan of group travel on New Year’s Eve. And spending time alone with her mother will be enough for them to have a great celebration. The trip will not be complete only because the model can’t take her father who, at 70, suffers from diabetes and hypertension.

“This would be too much exposure for him. I have not seen my father since February. He has been at home for almost eight months now. Him and my mother are separated, but they are friends. We’re going to make many video calls to help fight the nostalgia and share the atmosphere we’re going to enjoy in Bahia,” she says. “When the pandemic began, I had no idea that this would be the most different New Year’s Eve of my life.”

Alone by Choice

The pandemic has taught many lessons and reflections for São Paulo actress Maria Aparecida Torlai, 60, who lost four relatives to Covid-19 as well as 30-year-long friends. She says that all this made her realize that this is not the time to celebrate. And she has already warned her relatives and her son that, on the turn of the year, she will be isolated at home, praying.

“I’ll spend it alone by choice. I have my sisters, one of them in a risk group. Sometimes they have too much contact with other people, but I don’t. I’m quarantining correctly. I’ve been a theater actress for 38 years and I’m stopped. You start to rethink what life is. It’s no use being with people face-to-face anymore, because we’re all going to take risks,” says Torlai, who only leaves home every 45 days to shop.

So, the good old cell phone will be her New Year”s Eve companion. “I’ll make some video calls at the time we’re eating. Unfortunately I can’t welcome anyone. Not everyone is as careful as I am. I have an obligation to take care of myself and of others, because life is precious,” says the actress.

“What you don’t learn through love, you learn through pain. Loneliness is there for learning, too. God is the great gift. This year he provided lessons, because what is not a blessing is a lesson,” added the actress, whose greatest desire is to kiss her sisters again. “New Year’s Eve will be different because of the people I love and who are no longer here. They have left the world poorer and the heavens richer.”

Actor Fernando da Silva Teixeira, 56, a native of Ubá (MG), will resort to the same video calls to be closer to his family, whom he has not seen since January. Living in São Paulo since 1989, he considers himself almost a local, but always travels to his hometown at the end of the year.

“Due to the pandemic and the halt in my profession, I don’t have much money. I’ll spend it alone. At the turn of the year I intend to be really alone. To say a prayer. I have internalized my emotions. It will be a simpler celebration, reclusive,” says the actor, who will celebrate with a couple of glasses of good champagne.

And although the nostalgia is great, he says he does not fear loneliness. “My mother is calm and resigned. We are 13 children and only I and another brother are in São Paulo. But not even he will spend New Year’s Eve with me,” says Teixeira, who is negotiating with his nephews a virtual family celebration on New Year’s Eve.

Family Together, but No Hugs

Model and entrepreneur Núbia Óliiver, 47, is another who, concerned with the Covid-19 numbers across the country, decided to change her plans for New Year’s Eve. She claims that she had everything planned to go on a cruise with her daughter, 16, and a friend. The turn of the year would take place at sea, but the pandemic came. “We paid everything, ten selected days. But we cancelled.”

A farm in the region of Uberaba (MG) will be Óliiver’s refuge along with some relatives for the New Year. “Still, it’s not the time to have a big party. I’m more cautious. My parents are in the risk group. Because it’s an open place, you can keep more distance [between people],” she explains.

And speaking of caution, she says she will refrain from displaying affection. “My whole family is taking care of themselves. My mother doesn’t leave home either, she’s just started to have contact with her grandchildren and children recently. But there will be no hugging,” she says. She tells that she will take new Covid tests before meeting her mother, who is 60, and her father, who is now 74.

“We are used to hugging our brothers and nephews a lot, but unfortunately we can’t. And despite taking the test, I can catch it and it is a risk to take the disease into the house. It’s not the time to hug. It’s hard, but you have to.”