Covid 19: virus reaches São Gabriel da Cachoeira (AM), Brazil’s most indigenous municipality

The municipality of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, in Amazonas State, which has 90% of its population identified as indigenous, has registered its first two Covid-19 cases. The locality is a gateway to the region known as Dog’s Head (Cabeça do Cachorro), home to 23 different indigenous ethnic groups. It’s also a route to the Yanomami Indigenous Land, between Amazonas and Roraima States.

The city doesn’t have any ICU beds - the closest hospital is in Manaus, capital of Amazonas, 850 kilometers in a straight line away from São Gabriel, according to the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo. As an aggravating factor, aerial and river transportation were suspended because of the pandemic. In the beginning of April, Amazonas had the highest Covid-19 transmission rate in the country.