Concerns about Zika Virus cause cancellations during Carnaval

Hotels in Rio have reported a significant increase in the number of cancellations of reservations made for the Carnaval period this year. That means that a number of tourists are cancelling their trips to this country out of fear of contracting the Zika Virus. They also report there was an even greater increase following the WHO declaration of a state of emergency.

I find it rather strange that there has never seemed to be so much concern and so many cancellations related to the Dengue Virus, which is at near epidemic levels and spread by the same mosquito. I guess that more people are concerned about the possibility of birth defects resulting from Zika than they are about the risk of DEATH from Dengue.

Clearly the Brazilian government seemed to have given up their so-called "war" on Dengue that existed when I first arrived in Brazil 14 years ago. Now they're paying the price for this in terms of many more cases of Dengue and more deaths. Now they've added Zika to the list and seem to be scrambling to catch up. If they had simply continued their battle it is quite likely that Zika wouldn't have become such a problem.

It's probably too late for any action they may now take to have any effects before the opening of the Rio Olympic Games in six months. I am sure that we will see a corresponding increase in cancellations for that period too, as if the concerns about lack of infrastructure completion and pollution of Guanabara Bay aren't already enough to put people off.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team