(Bloomberg) -- Puerto Rico's year-end party, billed as part of “Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2022,” is losing a bit of luster after officials decided to make it a virtual affair due to the surging omicron variant.
Originally, the U.S. territory planned to have 10,000 spectators gathered near the San Juan Convention Center to cheer on a slew of acts, including rapper Daddy Yankee. Now there will be no audience at the venue, officials said.
The entertainment lineup remains unchanged and Puerto Rico's segment in the ABC network's broadcast from New York City will go out to more than 18 million television viewers, the government said.
Read More: Amid Pandemic, Puerto Rican Tourism Manages a Banner Year
The event has been generating controversy since the administration announced it would use $4.4 million from the American Rescue Plan Act to finance the broadcast. Governor Pedro Pierluisi and others had said the international visibility will help promote the island's booming tourism industry.
In a statement, Pierluisi said he was pulling the plug on crowds out of “prudence” and as the arrival of omicron has pushed up positivity rates across the island of 3.3 million.
Puerto Rico has the highest vaccination rate of any U.S. territory and was an early adopter of masks and curfews to stop the spread. This week, the government began requiring proof of vaccination and a recent Covid test to attend events. On Wednesday, it imposed new quarantine rules for those exposed to Covid.
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