Coronavirus advances 250% in three months in Yanomami Land and report cites ‘total lack of control’ | Roraima

Brazil’s largest indigenous reserve, Terra Yanomami is located between the states of Roraima and Amazonas, and much of the border with Venezuela. More than 26,700 Indians, including isolated groups, inhabit the region in some 360 ​​villages.

The number of confirmed cases in the territory went from 335 to 1,202 between August and October, according to the document entitled “Xawara: Traces of Covid-19 in the Yanomami Indigenous Land and the omission of the State.”

The monitoring of the NGO Rede Pró-Yanomami e Ye’kwana, which is part of the report, counts 23 deaths, between confirmed and suspected of Covid-19, of indigenous ethnic groups.

The first cases of the disease in the region were recorded in April in the Yanomami land. In the same month, the 15-year-old Alvanei Xirixana was the first fatality of the disease. He was hospitalized for six days at the General Hospital of Roraima, in Boa Vista.

Until the report was published, cases of the disease had been recorded in 23 of the 37 regions of indigenous land. The scenario is aggravated by the presence of miners in the reserve. Indigenous leaders claim that they are the main vectors of the disease among the population. “It is illegal mining that is taking this new xawara [doença] In the woods. ”

“There are confirmed cases of contamination in 23 out of 37 TIY regions and, since social isolation among residents is not practical in villages, approximately 10,000 Yanomami and Ye’kwana may already be exposed to the new coronavirus, in one universe of approximately 27 thousand people, that is, more than a third of the total population, showing a situation of total lack of control ”, highlights an extract from the document.

Terra Yanomami was considered the most vulnerable to the coronavirus among the indigenous regions of the Amazon by a study by the Socioenvironmental Institute (Isa), partner of the report, and the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG).

The lack of control, the report points out, is due to the low tests of the Ministry of Health, the data revealed that there are 11 regions of indigenous land where fewer than 10 tests were carried out. And another three where none were made.

“In other words, in more than a third of the regions there is very little information about the arrival of Covid-19, which reinforces the complaints of indigenous people that in reality the number of contaminated people may be much higher.”

In all indigenous lands, according to the data, 1,270 tests were carried out, between positive, negative and discarded, that is, less than 4.7% of the total population took the test.

“Therefore, without effective and systematic evaluation, it is impossible to track the disease and control its spread in communities. Low evidence masks the real scenario of Covid-19 infection among the Yanomami and Ye’kwana, so the known scenario is far from the reality of the impact of Covid-19 on TIY. And confirmed cases continue to grow. ”

To reach the number of infected people revealed in the report, the Pro-Yanomami Ye’kwana Network established a community monitoring system, in contact with indigenous leaders and associations, to monitor the progress of the disease. The idea was to make a drawing that included the unreported cases.

The data in the report, for example, is higher than that released on Wednesday (18) by the State Department of Health, where 1,052 Yanomami and nine deaths caused by the coronavirus were infected. These numbers are reported by the health district responsible for the reservation.

“With the use of a very insufficient number of rapid tests in places with a high probability of community transmission, the real situation of the pandemic in the Yanomami and Ye’kwana villages is masked,” the report warns.

Since June, to change this reality, indigenous people have been carrying out the “#ForaGarimpoForaCovid” campaign. The idea is to draw the attention of non-indigenous people, public bodies and authorities to the situation. Yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa released a video warning about the risks of forest destruction and the spread of the coronavirus pandemic among the people.

For Maurício Ye’kwana, director of Hutukara Associação Yanomami and spokesman for the campaign, the report is “an instrument that sheds light on the abandonment of the government in Yanomami Land during the pandemic.”

He says that the investigation represents an important step for “not only the Yanomami and Ye’kwana, but all the indigenous peoples who protect our Homeland and keep the forest standing” to demonstrate to the authorities the strength and unity of the indigenous struggle in Brazil. . “We have partners who support our fight. We ask for urgency to remove the invaders from our land, ”he said.

In September, when there were 700 records of the disease in Yanomami land, the Ministry of Health of the Yanomami region reported that the region had 725 health professionals. At that time, according to the note, 293,000 items had been delivered to the region, including supplies, personal protective equipment and rapid tests for Covid-19.

The report must now be sent to the authorities dealing with indigenous issues. The Yanomami and Ye’kwana Leadership Forum and the Pro-Yanomami and Ye’kwana Network were part of the preparation of the document, made up of the Hutukara Yanomami Association (HAY), the Wanasseduume Ye’kwana Association (SEDUUME), the Association of Yanomami Kumirayoma Women (AMYK). ), Texoli Ninam Association of the State of Roraima (TANER), Yanomami Association of Rio Cauaburis and Affluents (AYRCA), Kurikama Yanomami Association (AKY) and Hwenama Association of Yanomami Peoples of Roraima (HAPYR).