COVID-19 threatens Brazil's Indigenous groups
The coronavirus outbreak has reached the Brazilian Amazon, where almost 100 Indigenous people have died.
A survey by the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples' Association (APIB) has found 446 cases of new coronavirus and 96 deaths amongst Indigenous groups in Brazil.
A cause for concern, on 15 May 2020, APIB released the following statement: "The virus is reaching indigenous territories across Brazil with frightening speed".
38 Indigenous groups in Brazil have now been hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Just a few days ago, the Indigenous community of Parque das Tribos, outside the northern city of Manaus, lost their chief, Messias Kokama, to COVID-19.
Kokama, aged 53, was buried in a closed coffin and wrapped in plastic to avoid further spreading of the virus.
The current situation for Indigenous peoples in Brazil is one that is raising fears, particularly as these populations have a sad history of being easily decimated by outside diseases.
Historically, European expansion and contact with indigenous populations led to catastrophic depopulation primarily through the introduction of novel infectious diseases to which native peoples had limited exposure and immunity.
Highlighting the severity of the situation, over 11,000 deaths amongst 59 different Indigenous societies in Greater Amazonia occurred between 1875 and 2008 as a result of 117 epidemics infecting the region's native populations.
Interactions of this kind continue to impact Indigenous people living in the Amazon Basin, where some reports have estimated more than 50 isolated Indigenous groups are likely to make further contacts with the outside world in the near future.
The Brazilian government is set to send more troops to its border with Colombia in the Amazon rainforest to help stump the soaring COVID-19 infections there.
After bilateral talks between Colombia and Brazil that took place last Friday, the two countries will now also share information about the pandemic and seek to coordinate health measures.
With infections in Amazon border areas in Colombia, Brazil and Peru expected to reach more than 20,000, collaborative efforts are certainly required.
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