Newly dug, empty graves fill the Sao Luiz cemetery where Covid-19 victims will be buried in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, June 22, 2020. Photo / AP
Newly dug, empty graves fill the Sao Luiz cemetery where Covid-19 victims will be buried in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, June 22, 2020. Photo / AP
Brazilian authorities say the country's Sao Paulo state has topped 20,000 deaths from Covid-19, and the nation as a whole has recorded more than 80,000 fatalities because of the coronavirus.
Sao Paulo is Brazil's most populous state, with 46 million people, and is the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in the South American country.
It has been enforcing social distancing measures since mid-March, but has never applied a full lockdown.
Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria replaced his health secretary this week, though he says the official left the post for medical reasons unrelated to the coronavirus.
As cases climb, shocking photos have emerged showing the scale of the disaster.
Photos from Sao Paulo show hundreds of freshly dug graves waiting to be filled, grimly illustrating a nation pushed to the brink.
Workers fill graves at the Vila Formosa cemetery amidst the coronavirus pandemic on July 16, 2020 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo / Getty
An aerial view of Vila Formosa cemetery as open graves are being prepared amidst the coronavirus pandemic on July 16, 2020 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Photo / Getty
After the nation's president, Jair Bolsonaro, tested positive for the virus this month, four more Cabinet ministers have recorded positive results.
The Minister of Citizenship, Onyx Lorenzoni, 65, said he started having symptoms Thursday, but is now feeling better and working from home.
Milton Ribeiro, the 62-year-old minister of education, said Monday on Twitter that he is also infected — the fourth Cabinet minister so far, in addition to Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro tested positive July 7. He has said he has been taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, which most studies have found to be ineffective and potentially dangerous for some patients. Lorenzoni said he is taking a closely related drug, chloroquine.
Meanwhile, a human rights arm of the Organisation of American States said on Monday that Brazil needs to take measures to protect Indigenous populations from Covid-19.
The commission said Brazil must introduce a plan within 15 days to protect the Yanomami and Ye'kwana groups, who live in remote northern regions, "because they are in a situation of great danger" .
Few ventilators and intensive-care beds are available close to their lands in the Amazon region.
Newly dug, empty graves fill the Sao Luiz cemetery where Covid-19 victims will be buried in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Monday, June 22, 2020. Photo / AP
The commission said Brazil's government argued it is doing its job with the Indigenous people, but didn't specify what it is doing for those groups.
The Yanomamis presented a request in mid-June to pressure the Brazilian government to remove illegal miners and loggers from their lands. They blame such intruders for bringing the virus.
The Brazilian government didn't respond to a request for comment.
Brazil's Health Ministry estimates about 200 Indigenous people have died of Covid-19, but another count by independent groups tracking the situation says the actual figure is twice as high.
