Isolation not enough to save Amazon indigenous village from COVID-19

[Judi Lynn]

MAY 22, 2020 / 1:19 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

Bruno Kelly
4 MIN READ



Kambeba indigenous nurse technician Neurilene Cruz, 36, measures the oxygen level of the blood of indigenous Raimundo Cruz da Silva, 42, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the banks of the Negro river at the village Tres Unidos, Amazon state, Brazil, May 21, 2020. Picture taken May 21, 2020. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly

TRES UNIDOS, BRAZIL (Reuters) - Tres Unidos, an indigenous village in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest, locked out all visitors, hoping that isolation would keep it safe. And yet the new coronavirus still came.

It arrived, most likely up the Rio Negro, the giant snaking river that connects Tres Unidos with the Amazon’s largest city, Manaus - five hours away by boat.

The rivers, the lifeblood of these remote communities, are now also bringing disease. The dots of confirmed coronavirus deaths on a map published by Brazil’s government follow the rivers in these remote parts.

Waldemir da Silva, the village chief better known here as Tuxuau Kambeba, said the virus came quietly, as if carried on the wind.

“The virus is treacherous,” he said, wearing a white face mask and a wooden headdress.

“We started getting ill and thought it was a bad cold, but people got worse. Thank God the children did not get it,” the 61-year-old told Reuters.

More:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-brazil-indigenous/isolation-not-enough-to-save-amazon-indigenous-village-from-covid-19-idUSKBN22Y2M3?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29&&rpc=401