By , BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Coronavirus is spreading fast through Brazil’s indigenous populations, with deaths caused by the disease increasing more than five-fold in the past month, according to data collected by a national association of first peoples.Many epidemiologists had hoped remote locations might protect the tribes, but the virus, which first took hold in Brazil’s cosmopolitan state capitals of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, is increasingly devastating these far-flung communities where basic healthcare is often precarious.For many indigenous it harks back to a dark...…By , BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Coronavirus is spreading fast through Brazil’s indigenous populations, with deaths caused by the disease increasing more than five-fold in the past month, according to data collected by a national association of first peoples.Many epidemiologists had hoped remote locations might protect the tribes, but the virus, which first took hold in Brazil’s cosmopolitan state capitals of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, is increasingly devastating these far-flung communities where basic healthcare is often precarious.For many indigenous it harks back to a dark...WW…

By , SÃO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil has excluded complaints of police violence from an annual human rights report, sparking allegations on Friday of a cover-up amid global outrage over racial injustice and use of excessive force by law enforcement.Alleged incidents of police abuse are collected from a hotline in Brazil, with the data previously going into a broad report compiled by the federal government. But unlike 2017 or 2018, the information was absent from the 2019 edition - the first year of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s term in office.Brazil ranks among the world’s deadliest...…By , SÃO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil has excluded complaints of police violence from an annual human rights report, sparking allegations on Friday of a cover-up amid global outrage over racial injustice and use of excessive force by law enforcement.Alleged incidents of police abuse are collected from a hotline in Brazil, with the data previously going into a broad report compiled by the federal government. But unlike 2017 or 2018, the information was absent from the 2019 edition - the first year of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s term in office.Brazil ranks among the world’s deadliest...WW…

By , BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil began to process the accelerating horrors of the spread of the new coronavirus on Friday, slashing economic growth outlooks, warning of a healthcare collapse and announcing new measures to fight a crisis that has also taken a toll on President Jair Bolsonaro’s popularity.The senate on Friday signed off on a state of emergency that will permit the government to waive fiscal targets this year.The Economy Ministry lowered its growth forecast from 2.1% to zero - a number many economists believe remains highly ambitious - with a “significant”...…By , BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil began to process the accelerating horrors of the spread of the new coronavirus on Friday, slashing economic growth outlooks, warning of a healthcare collapse and announcing new measures to fight a crisis that has also taken a toll on President Jair Bolsonaro’s popularity.The senate on Friday signed off on a state of emergency that will permit the government to waive fiscal targets this year.The Economy Ministry lowered its growth forecast from 2.1% to zero - a number many economists believe remains highly ambitious - with a “significant”...WW…

By , , RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Imported by the Brazilian elite vacationing in Europe, the new coronavirus is now ravaging the country’s poor, ripping through tightly-packed neighborhoods where the disease is harder to control.Public health data analyzed by Reuters for the cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza show a shift in recent weeks from the wealthy boroughs that seeded the outbreak to the gritty urban outskirts.The change has coincided with a spike in confirmed coronavirus deaths, which are now just shy of 6,000 in Brazil. Many scientists point to Latin...…By , , RIO DE JANEIRO/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Imported by the Brazilian elite vacationing in Europe, the new coronavirus is now ravaging the country’s poor, ripping through tightly-packed neighborhoods where the disease is harder to control.Public health data analyzed by Reuters for the cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza show a shift in recent weeks from the wealthy boroughs that seeded the outbreak to the gritty urban outskirts.The change has coincided with a spike in confirmed coronavirus deaths, which are now just shy of 6,000 in Brazil. Many scientists point to Latin...WW…

By , BRASILIA (Reuters) - The biggest threat to Brazil’s ability to successfully combat the spread of the coronavirus and tackle the unfolding public health crisis is the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, according to British medical journal The Lancet.Slideshow In an editorial, the Lancet said his disregard for and flouting of lockdown measures is sowing confusion across Brazil, which reported a record number of COVID-19 deaths on Friday, and is fast emerging as one of the world’s coronavirus hot spots.Brazil’s Health Ministry on Friday registered 10,222 new confirmed cases of the novel...…By , BRASILIA (Reuters) - The biggest threat to Brazil’s ability to successfully combat the spread of the coronavirus and tackle the unfolding public health crisis is the country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, according to British medical journal The Lancet.Slideshow In an editorial, the Lancet said his disregard for and flouting of lockdown measures is sowing confusion across Brazil, which reported a record number of COVID-19 deaths on Friday, and is fast emerging as one of the world’s coronavirus hot spots.Brazil’s Health Ministry on Friday registered 10,222 new confirmed cases of the novel...WW…

By , BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil began to process the accelerating horrors of the spread of the new coronavirus on Friday, slashing economic growth outlooks, warning of a healthcare collapse and announcing new measures to fight a crisis that has also taken a toll on President Jair Bolsonaro’s popularity.The senate on Friday signed off on a state of emergency that will permit the government to waive fiscal targets this year.The Economy Ministry lowered its growth forecast from 2.1% to zero - a number many economists believe remains highly ambitious - with a “significant”...…By , BRASILIA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil began to process the accelerating horrors of the spread of the new coronavirus on Friday, slashing economic growth outlooks, warning of a healthcare collapse and announcing new measures to fight a crisis that has also taken a toll on President Jair Bolsonaro’s popularity.The senate on Friday signed off on a state of emergency that will permit the government to waive fiscal targets this year.The Economy Ministry lowered its growth forecast from 2.1% to zero - a number many economists believe remains highly ambitious - with a “significant”...WW…

By PIRATININGA, Brazil (Reuters) - José Roberto Inácio spent much of his life ferrying the sick and injured to the hospital in this quiet Brazilian town.On Wednesday, March 10, the retired ambulance driver took the familiar route once more - as a passenger gasping for breath.By the weekend, the 63-year-old’s kidneys were failing. He needed dialysis. He needed intensive care.But at the small hospital where he was being treated even basic medical supplies, like a catheter, were lacking. He joined the list for a bed in an intensive care unit (ICU), but doctors told his family there were 70...…By PIRATININGA, Brazil (Reuters) - José Roberto Inácio spent much of his life ferrying the sick and injured to the hospital in this quiet Brazilian town.On Wednesday, March 10, the retired ambulance driver took the familiar route once more - as a passenger gasping for breath.By the weekend, the 63-year-old’s kidneys were failing. He needed dialysis. He needed intensive care.But at the small hospital where he was being treated even basic medical supplies, like a catheter, were lacking. He joined the list for a bed in an intensive care unit (ICU), but doctors told his family there were 70...WW…