The worst health scare in recent history is not keeping Brazilians from their annual carnival revelry.
Millions of partiers swarmed the streets of Brazil in street processions, block parties and big-budget parades that are the hallmark of the festival as it moved into the second day on Sunday.
The festive zeal did not halt even as Brazilian health officials continued to grapple with an outbreak that may have infected as many as 1.5 million people and could be linked to suspected deformations in more than 4,000 infants and unborn children.
Brazil where problems like an economic recession and impeachment proceedings against Brazil’s president seemed distant concerns, news about the virus being present in blood, saliva and other bodily fluids of patients infected by Zika hardly seemed to dampen a festival.
It’s one more thing to worry about. People aren’t going to stop having fun and hooking up.Juliana Araujo, schoolteacher
Over a million people hit the streets in cities like Rio, home to the country’s best-known Carnival celebration, and the northeastern capitals of Salvador and Recife, two cities which has been hard hit by the outbreak.
Along with the usual cross-dressing, superheroes and other outlandish costumes worn by partygoers, some toyed with themes related to the scare of Zika virus.
Outside a juice bar in Rio early on Sunday, three men dressed as mosquitoes mingled with other revelers, the names of maladies borne by the insect stencilled across their chests: “zika,” “dengue” and “chikungunya.”
The carnival officially ends on Wednesday.
For some, the levity is welcome relief amid nonstop Zika headlines. After emerging in Brazil last year, the virus has now been locally transmitted in at least 30 countries, according to the World Health Organization.
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