While Brazil registered more than 8,000 cases of people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus this Friday, and more than 300 deaths, the authorities have just report the first case among Native American peoples of the Amazon.
According to SESAI, the branch of the Brazilian Ministry of Health focused on the country's indigenous peoples, a 20-year-old young woman from the Kokama tribe, found in the district of Santo Antonio do Içá, in the northern state of Amazonas, reportedly tested positive for Covid-19 a few days ago. She has no symptoms of the infection at this time. His family members are also under observation and have been placed in solitary confinement.
The young woman is a health professional who worked alongside a doctor who tested positive last week after returning from vacation in southern Brazil, can we read in a press release.
In Brazil many feared this scenario for some time. Respiratory diseases are indeed already the leading cause of death among indigenous Brazilian populations. Which makes the current pandemic particularly worrisome for these communities.
Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta indeed recently pointed out at a press conference that the health of indigenous people was "a great source of concern given the historical vulnerability of these communities to imported viruses. “We need to pay tenfold attention to these populations. Mainly those who have very few external relations “, he added.
As a reminder, Brazil has nearly 800,000 Amerindians divided into more than 300 ethnic groups. Among these communities, some live in sometimes very remote environments of the country, which means that it is also often impossible to provide them with assistance in the event of an emergency.
Sofia Mendonça, a researcher at the Federal University of São Paulo and medical officer of health, went even further, stating that an uncontrolled spread of the virus through communities could cause " a genocide".
For these reasons, key indigenous leaders arriving from abroad, often after traveling with NGOs, have been asked by the Brazilian authorities to self-isolate for fourteen days and not to go to their respective villages.
Some groups have also introduced their own measures. Like the Xingu people in northern Brazil, who announced their intention to block the roads leading to their reserve. They will now only allow medical professionals who have been screened in their territory.
According to Sofia Mendonça, the memory of past epidemics could also cause several communities to divide and seek refuge inside the forest. "Some groups will probably get the gear they need to hunt and fish and set up camps, she explains, waiting for the dust to settle “.
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