Brazil Coronavirus Update: Poorest Neglected And Might Be Left For Dead During COVID-19 Outbreak

While Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro continues to downplay the intensity of the global pandemic, residents of favelas are clinging onto the dwindling hope of surviving through the crisis.

The COVID-19 outbreak intensifies the struggles of Brazil’s downtrodden—water, food, and security. The muddled approach of the government adds to the chaos. Bolsonaro acted against the suggestions of his own health minister Luiz Mandetta, and the World Health Organization.

Brazil appears to be conspiratorially oblivious to the real struggles of the poor—as a meager $116 was all that the government could dole out for a period of three months to over 25 million Brazilians below the poverty levels. The electricity bills of those residing in the favelas were frozen for up to three months.

As per a media report, while 71 percent of favela residents would like to practice social distancing, the acute lack of basic resources compels them to get out and work. Even residents who were in-home quarantine with suspected cases of coronavirus were unable to stay indoors for long owing to the fear of starvation.

The job crisis is a real nightmare that has played out into reality for a majority of communities in the favelas. A whopping 80 percent of favela residents have been laid off in the past couple of weeks, leaving their families at the mercy of food parcels and supplies by NGOs and networks.

“Here we work in the morning to eat in the afternoon. They can’t close,” said Christiane Mendes to a media outlet, who works for an education association that delivers essential supplies to the needy and low-income groups of Brazil.

The neighborhood of Paraisópolis has taken on the onus of bettering the pitiable conditions of the poor by offering services like delivering 15,000 food parcels, as well as launching schemes for house helps to find livelihood opportunities in upscale neighborhoods. Volunteers are making continual efforts to propagate the importance of social distancing and hygiene.

Residents who were unable to make the payment made a beeline to tax offices and government offices across Brazil. Some of the residents did not have the knowledge about the right social security numbers and several others weren’t equipped for internet access.