An endemic person living in a Greenwich Village late in the Amazon rain forest has tested positive for COVID-19 , marking it the first confirm case of the disease in Brazil ’s autochthonal population .
SESAI , the Brazilian Health Ministry ’s Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health , sound out on April 2 a 20 - twelvemonth - older woman from the Kokama tribe has tested positive for SARS - CoV-2 in the territorial dominion of Santo Antonio do Içá in northern Amazonas state , Reutersreports .
" This is the only case of an indigenous charwoman with COVID-19 in Brazil , " SESAI tell , according toAFPnews agency .
" So far , the professional is without any symptom of the infection . Her menage members are also serve and in closing off . ”
Amazônia Realreports the woman was one of 27 indigenous people who were being supervise after having close contact with a aesculapian medico who particularise in indigenous peoples ' health and was diagnose with COVID-19 last week . Health authorities are also closely monitoring 10 Tikuna endemic the great unwashed in southern Brazil who were also treated by the same doctor on March 19 .
Many have feared this scenario for some prison term . Last hebdomad , wellness authorisation were concernednumerous indigenous peoplefrom the Marubo may have contracted COVID-19 after come into contact with a radical of American tourists . luckily , they all tested negative for COVID-19 , although there ’s now a concern other tribes have been exposed to the computer virus .
It ’s thought that some indigenous multitude will be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 as isolated group have slight or no develop immunity to disease and common infections circle in the general population . Ashistory has showntime and again , the intro of a strange pathogen to remote indigenous communities can be devastating .
Equally , many of Brazil ’s autochthonic communities exist in exceedingly outback corner of the land , meaning it ’s often near - impossible to fork up medical supplies and help .
" There is an unbelievable danger of the virus spreading through communities and cause genocide , " Sofia Mendonça , a research worker at the Federal University of São Paulo ( Unifesp ) , toldBBC News Brasil .
Some indigenous groups are not going down without a fight , though . Leaders of the Xingu multitude in northern Brazil haveannounced plansto seal off roads into their reserve , only allow for health professionals who have been fully screened into their territory .
The current Brazilian autochthonic population is just over 817,000 masses , according to 2010 statistics byFUNAI , the Brazilian government ’s indigenous agency . While the majority live on in rural region , a considerable figure now live in urbanized areas and are in link with non - indigenous society . Even today , around 100 uncontacted tribes are still in universe , the majority of which can be found in Brazil .
" If their lands are properly protected from outsider , uncontacted folk should be relatively safe from the coronavirus pandemic . But many of their territory are being invaded and steal for lumber , mining , and factory farm , with the encouragement of President Bolsonaro , who has virtually declare state of war on Brazil ’s autochthonal peoples , " Sarah Shenker , Survival ’s Uncontacted Tribes campaigner , said in astatement .
" Where invaders are present , coronavirus could wipe out whole the great unwashed . It ’s a thing of lifespan and death . "
