BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – In Buenos Aires, on Friday night, the doors of the Colón Theater reopened for the first time in a year since closing due to the coronavirus pandemic, a sign that Argentina’s capital is one time slowly dropping its hair once.
In neighboring Brazil, however, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have entered opposition and both announced tougher restrictions this week, reflecting how the two regional superpowers are on completely different tracks in the fight against the virus.
“It makes me very happy, we have to go back to the theater, we have to lose our fear,” Fanny Mandelbaum, a local Argentinian journalist who attended the opening concert at the famous opera house, told Reuters. “It’s so satisfying to be in a room and share culture with other people.”
The symbolic opening of the opera house, which dates back to 1857 – though in a different building – comes on the heels of film buffs in the capital who can return to the cinemas early this month.
Authorities have also relaxed restrictions allowing restaurants and bars to stay open later, with indoor dining, putting the city back on track, which had one of the longest and toughest lockdowns in the region last year.
But in Brazil, the state of Sao Paulo imposed a partial lockdown this week, underscoring growing concerns about an increase in new infections. Rio de Janeiro, meanwhile, has passed new restrictions, including a curfew.
‘We have reached a serious moment of the pandemic. The variants of the coronavirus are hitting us aggressively, ”Brazilian Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello said on social media.
The divergence of the region’s urban nighttime revelers illustrates the different trajectories Argentina and Brazil are following in the race to tame COVID-19, even as vaccination programs are hit by delays.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has long tried to reduce the severity of the virus, while Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez has taken a tougher stance.
Claudio Mendez, Argentinian manager of movie theater operator Cinepolis, said that when vaccines were rolled out, they hoped movie theaters would return to normal after an incredibly difficult year.
“It was a situation that was unimaginable even in the worst horror movie,” he said. “We believe that as the vaccination process progresses … movie premieres will become more normal.”
Back at the Colón Theater, many musicians still played with their masks on, while wind instruments were kept in transparent boxes to prevent the possible spread of the virus. The audience was checked for temperature and the seats were spread out.
“We had to go back and today was the day,” said María Victoria Alcaraz, general manager of the opera house. “The spirit was to reopen the doors as soon as possible so that the audience and the performers could get back together.”
Reporting by Lucila Sigal; Adaptation by Adam Jourdan and Diane Craft