Brazil: The human cost of COVID-19

Latin America

Brazil: The Human Cost of COVID 19

Brazil has second-most COVID deaths in the world,  many acknowledge the virus is out of control.

This Human Cost of COVID-19 is a multi-part series of human-nature stories behind the pandemic: the suffering, the heroism, the admirable work and behavior of so many that go muted or under-reported.  

Episode 1: A study shows COVID-19 impact based on poverty in Brazil

The COVID-19 pandemic is a global tragedy, but not everyone has been affected in the same way. Brazilian researchers found in a recent study that poverty is one of the factors that puts some people at higher risk of death from the disease.

In Sao Paulo, those living in the poorest neighborhoods are three times more likely to die of COVID-19 than those in more affluent areas of the city.

CGTN’s Paulo Cabral reports.

Episode 2: COVID-19 cases and deaths are surging in Brazil

More than 350,000 Brazilians have died during the COVID-19 pandemic. That death toll trails only the U.S, but Brazil is now accounting for more than one-quarter of the world’s daily coronavirus deaths. Daily fatalities rose above 4,000 twice this past week. 

As shocking as these numbers are, it’s the tragedy behind the statistics that goes almost unmentioned, the emotional and psychological toll on children, spouses, parents, and friends who have been left to try and put their lives back together.

CGTN’s Lucrecia Franco reports.

 

 

Episode 3: Catholic priest works to fight homelessness in Sao Paulo

Back in 2019, São Paulo authorities estimated the city’s homeless population in about 25,000 people. Figures have not been updated since but there are signs that the economic crises caused by the Covid-19 pandemic further increased these numbers.

Catholic priest Julio Lancelotti has been working to ease the suffering and to help these people for nearly four decades and his work has been widely recognized as extremely important in this health emergency.

Father Lancelotti told his story to CGTN.

Episode 4: How volunteer frontline workers support Brazil’s COVID fight

After more than a year responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, health care teams in Brazil still find themselves overwhelmed. ​Case numbers are surging and hospitals are stretched to the limit. In the state of São Paulo, volunteers have been answering a government call to service to help hospitals cope with the emergency. 

Episode 5: Health workers struggle as COVID-19 cases surge in Brazil

As Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll continues to climb at an alarming rate, so does the number of the country’s healthcare workers who have sacrificed their lives fighting the pandemic.

Health officials are alarmed by the losses and warn the entire Brazilian health system is collapsing.

CGTN’s Lucrecia Franco reports from Rio de Janeiro.

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