BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – In Buenos Aires on Friday night, the doors of the Teatro Colón reopened for the first time in a year since it was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, a sign of how the Argentine capital is slowly losing its hair again.
However, in neighboring Brazil, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have gone in the direction of the opposition, both announcing stricter restrictions this week, a reflection of how the two regional power plants are on completely different tracks fighting the virus.
“I am very happy, we have to go to the theater again, we have to lose our fear,” Fanny Mandelbaum, a local journalist from Argentina who attended the inaugural concert at the famous opera house, told Reuters. “It’s so satisfying to be in a room and share the culture with other people.”
The symbolic opening of the opera, which dates from 1857 – although it is in a different building – comes in the way of film lovers in the capital, being able to return to cinemas earlier this month.
Authorities eased restrictions, allowing restaurants and bars to remain open later, with tables inside, bringing back the city that had one of the longest and harshest blockades in the region last year.
But in Brazil, the state of Sao Paulo imposed a partial blockade this week, highlighting growing concerns about the rise of new infections. Rio de Janeiro, meanwhile, has adopted new restrictions, including a night time.
“It simply came to our notice then. Coronavirus variants hit us aggressively “, said the Minister of Health of Brazil, Eduardo Pazuello, on social networks.
The divergence between overnight urban developers in the region illustrates the different trajectories that Argentina and Brazil are in the race to tame COVID-19, even though inoculation programs are affected by delays.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has long sought to reduce the severity of the virus, while Argentine President Alberto Fernandez has taken a tougher stance.
Claudio Mendez, Argentine manager for the Cinepolis film chain operator, said that with the launch of the vaccines, he hopes that cinemas will be able to return to normal after what has been an incredibly tough year.
“It was an unimaginable situation even in the worst horror movie,” he said. “We believe that as the vaccination process progresses … film premieres will begin to flow more normally.”
Back at the Colón Theater, many musicians were still wearing masks on them, while wind instrument players were in transparent booths to avoid the potential spread of the virus. The audience was checked for temperature and the seats were stretched.
“We had to go back and today was the day,” said María Victoria Alcaraz, the opera’s general manager. “The spirit was to reopen the doors as soon as possible so that the public and the artists could reunite one again.”
Reporting by Lucila Sigal; Editing by Adam Jourdan and Diane Craft