{"id":44767,"date":"2020-08-26T01:00:44","date_gmt":"2020-08-25T23:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=44767"},"modified":"2021-12-01T13:48:24","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:48:24","slug":"city-indigenous-people-amazon-brazil-covid19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/44767\/city-indigenous-people-amazon-brazil-covid19\/","title":{"rendered":"How the city in Brazil with the highest number of Indigenous People is dealing with COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The original version of this story was published in Portuguese on July 13 by Greenpeace Brazil<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Since the novel coronavirus pandemic hit Brazil, an alarm has been ringing for the country\u2019s Indigenous Peoples. Already with a history of destruction caused by epidemics transmitted by non-Indigenous People, COVID-19 brought a frightening reminder of a past that must not be repeated.<\/p>\n\n

Despite every warning of how vulnerable Indigenous Peoples are to COVID-19 \u2013 the Indigenous People\u2019s mortality rate in the Amazon is 150% higher than the Brazilian average<\/a>, according to a study published in June \u2013  the federal government has taken minimal action to protect these populations from the pandemic. Last month, President Jair Bolsonaro went as far as vetoing 16 items from a project<\/a> with measures to prevent the spread of the virus within Indigenous communities. <\/p>\n\n

\"S\u00e3o
S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira, in the state of Amazonas, alongside the Negro River.
\u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

According to data from the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), as of August 21, there are 19,893 confirmed cases of Indigenous People infected by COVID-19, 588 registered deaths, and 125 affected ethnicities in the Amazon. Amazonas was the first state to confirm cases of infected Indigenous people and has the highest concentrated number of deaths among them.  <\/p>\n\n

In S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira (AM), the city in Brazil with the highest number of Indigenous Peoples (approximately 90% of the population), located on the Colombia-Venezuela border, a multi-institutional effort has been mitigating the impacts of the pandemic.  The effort is aiming to stop the disease from advancing further through the forest and avoid catastrophic consequences. <\/p>\n\n

The Coping with COVID-19 Committee<\/em> was created by S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira\u2019s City Hall on March 18th<\/sup>, and a group of organizations and civil society, such as the Federation of Indigenous Organizations of Rio Negro (FOIRN), Brazil\u2019s National Indigenous Foundation (FUNAI), the Socio-Environmental Institute<\/a> (ISA), Municipal Department of Health, Special Indigenous Sanitary District (DSEI) and the Army. The group began implementing actions to fight COVID-19 before the disease reached the town. <\/p>\n\n

Communication and information efforts about the disease were some of the preventative measures taken. S\u00e3o Gabriel has three other official languages (Nheengatu, Tukano and Baniwa) in addition to Portuguese, so booklets were produced in the Indigenous languages and information was broadcasted via radio and sound trucks, with the support of young communicators from the Wayuri Indigenous Communication Network<\/a> and ISA. <\/p>\n\n

\"Youth \u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace” class=”wp-image-44770″\/>
Youth from the Wayuri Indigenous Communication Network broadcasting information on COVID-19 for the Indigenous communities on the Rio Negro region.
\u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Sanitary barriers were also installed as another preventive measure to control the water and air traffic. \u201cThis held us over for 37 days [until the virus arrived],\u201d says Marivelton Barroso, Indigenous leader, president of FOIRN, and current president of the Committee. \u201cBut we also had some challenges, a lot of people didn\u2019t like these barriers, saw it as a hassle and started to come through the back door. Today we don\u2019t know where the virus began to spread, but when it broke out in April, it was already out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The residents of S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira were alarmed when the first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in their city hit the news. \u201cIt is one thing for you to watch the pandemic on television in other states and countries, but when it arrived, and we saw the reality, we were scared. Five people died in their homes in one weekend. It was a desperate time,\u201d recalls Wizer Almeida of the Bar\u00e9 people, from ISA. With only one hospital in town, the healthcare system collapsed<\/a>, lacking hospital beds, health professionals and with a low supply of oxygen. The hospital does not have an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and, at the beginning of the pandemic, had only seven respirators for treating COVID-19 patients. Therefore, the city government ordered a lockdown from May 9th<\/sup> to June 8th<\/sup> and made the use of masks mandatory. By August 23, S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira had 3,749 confirmed cases, and 51\u00a0 registered deaths.<\/p>\n\n

\"S\u00e3o
S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira faces Covid-19.
\u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

According to Marivelton, the effort that brought together such diverse institutions, between authorities and civil society, was vital in dealing with this enormous and logistically challenging situation\u2014about 750 communities of 23 Indigenous ethnicities. \u201cInterinstitutional work is crucial and regionally strategic. If we hadn\u2019t joined forces, the situation could\u2019ve been much worse. This model has to continue even after the pandemic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace Brazil joined forces with the Committee as time moved along by enabling donated materials to be transported, both by the organization itself and by partner organizations. \u201cWe really need to understand the challenges faced by those who live in the Amazon, and the threats the pandemic is posing. Those who live in S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira are 850km from the Manaus, the only city in the entire state that has an ICU,\u201d explains Carol Mar\u00e7al, from Greenpeace\u2019s Amazon Campaign. \u201cSo the formation of this solidarity network is essential to face this crisis.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace and other partners delivered thousands of COVID-19 rapid tests<\/a>, oxygen tanks and concentrators, power generators and electrical equipment to assemble field hospitals, personal protective equipment, masks, soap, hand sanitizer, food and sewing machines for people to make masks. Healthcare professionals were also taken to the city to run tests, give treatment, assess the status of the municipality\u2019s healthcare infrastructure and train healthcare workers. <\/p>\n\n

\u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace” alt=”Wings of Emergency Project takes donations to support the fight against COVID-19 in S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira.
\u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div> \u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace” class=”wp-image-44786″\/>
Wings of Emergency Project takes donations to support the fight against COVID-19 in S\u00e3o Gabriel da Cachoeira.
\u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

A place where Indigenous patients can feel at home<\/h2>\n\n

The field hospitals set up to treat Indigenous People during the pandemic are an example of the efforts being made by the Coping with COVID-19 Committee <\/em>and many supporting organizations<\/a>. Called Indigenous Primary Care Units (UAPI), they are coordinated by the Special Indigenous Sanitary District (DSEI) and treat low and medium risk patients, providing an environment adapted to their needs. <\/p>\n\n

12 field hospitals have been set up in the Rio Negro region to offer assistance within communities and keep Indigenous People with lower-risk cases from having to be treated in the city.<\/p>\n\n

Doctor Guilherme Reis Mon\u00e7\u00e3o, from DSEI, helped make these units viable and explained they are simple operations. They mainly guarantee oxygen, medication, and treatment from doctors and nurses. \u201cIf we manage to give treatment early, we will be able to save lives. So, the idea is to take medication and treatment to the community,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n

The units also facilitate treatment for the at-risk group, as many elderly people resist going to the cities for treatment for fear of never coming back. \u201cMany people will not want to leave their communities. This is a way of giving them another chance at treatment,\u201d explains Guilherme. The loss of elders is one of the Indigenous Peoples\u2019 utmost concerns. As Marivelton states, the region has already experienced the irreversible loss of elders who held the entire history and knowledge of territories and cultural issues with them. \u201cWe call them a living encyclopedia. The elders are the main doctors and teachers, the holders of traditional knowledge,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n

\"The
The Cachoeirinha dos Padres Reference Center Indigenous Primary Care Units, where Indigenous people have a differentiated environment for treating COVID-19.
\u00a9 Christian Braga \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

\u201cHere you can treat the patients better, they feel more at home,\u201d says Guilherme. The president of the Conselho Distrital de Sa\u00fade Ind\u00edgena<\/em> (CONDISI), Jov\u00e2nio Vilagelin, of the Bar\u00e9 People agrees, \u201cThe unit was created especially for the Indigenous population. It removes the hospital environment, a very heavy environment for us,\u201d he says. Jov\u00e2nio explains that, in his language, when people come together to help someone in need, it is called \u201cAjuri<\/em>.\u201d \u201cThis ajuri<\/em> \u2013 the union of all \u2013 made it possible to set up this peaceful, calming environment, so that patients can stay safe,\u201d he adds. According to the DSEI, until July, 84 patients have recovered in one of the Cachoeirinha dos Padres field hospital and were able to return to their villages, including a 102-year old Indigenous woman, whose recovery was widely celebrated. Currently, the field hospital model is being implemented<\/a> in other strategic regions of the Amazon. The intention is to decentralize treatment and help reduce the flow of Indigenous patients seeking help in the cities.<\/p>\n\n

Luana Lila\u00a0is the Head of Storytelling at Greenpeace Brazil.<\/em><\/p>\n

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