How The Coronavirus Is Impacting Favelas In Rio De Janeiro

Over the last two months, the idea that COVID-19 does not discriminate – that anyone, regardless of race or socioeconomic situation, is equally susceptible to the disease – has been given a great deal of mileage. Yet in societies that are deeply unequal, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic will inevitably be felt most acutely by those least able to bear the burden. In Rio de Janeiro’s impoverished favela communities, that is already becoming clear.

Rene Silva, 26, is one of the most prominent social activists in Brazil. He founded and and edits a newspaper, Voz das Comunidades, or “Voice of the Communities,” which aims to provide a platform to people and places that are often ignored by the mainstream media and marginalized by the authorities.

Silva grew up and lives in the Complexo do Alemão, a sprawling development of favela housing in the northern suburbs of Rio, and shot to prominence in 2013 when reporting on the police raids that aimed to “pacify” the area in the run up to the soccer World Cup of 2014. He spoke to me by phone to describe the profound impact that the coronavirus is having in areas like his.

“In the Complexo do Alemão,” he says, “a lot of people have changed their routines, they are staying at home, but there are also a lot of people still going out on the street, a lot of people having to work. So, people’s routines are still very visible, unfortunately. Places that are usually busy are still busy now. A lot of people are living as if there was nothing happening, maintaining the same routine as before.”

That reluctance to self-isolate is born of necessity, Silva explains. “A lot of people work for themselves and they need to work to be able to buy food. There are people who have been fired from their jobs because the businesses are not going to be able to pay during the pandemic. So, in addition to the poor people we already have in the favela, another group is popping up: the new poor, people who have recently been dismissed and people who had their own business but are not able to make their business work anymore.”

Even in without a global pandemic to think about, life can be tough for residents of places like Complexo do Alemão. Silva – who has been recognized for his work both internationally and at home, including an appearance in Forbes’ list of the 30 most influential Brazilians under 30 – says that even the most essential services are not always available. “The day-to-day life of favela residents is very difficult because we don’t have access to basic rights. There are a lot of people who do not have clean water in their houses, they have to carry buckets from other places. A lot of people in favelas have lived with hunger their whole lives, not having enough to eat.

“And a daily problem is in relation to the violence. There are wars between gangs and wars between the police and drug dealers. The police come into the favelas for shootouts, to wage war. People who live in these places end up being very marginalized, because they don’t have the right to go to work, to go to school, because a shootout is happening, or there is a problem in relation to the police violence.”

As the journalist and academic Laerte Breno highlighted in his column for Voz das Comunidades at the beginning of April, the government "advises the population on the importance of hand washing, but forgets the lack of piped water and money for many families to buy soap."

The need to go out to work in order to put food on the table and the lack of access to basic sanitation, Silva believes, increase the risk of the disease spreading quickly inside the favelas. He also highlights the lack of testing available for people in poor communities. “A lot of people are dying and are not being notified [as COVID-19 deaths], because they have not been tested," he states.

As of April 27, there had been 22 confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in Rio's favelas, but, Silva says, "Here in the Complexo do Alemão, there are a lot of cases of people who have died over the last six days, but not all of them were tested, so nobody knows the cause of death.

“People who present symptoms but have not been tested do not believe [they have the coronavirus]. People don’t believe that COVID-19 is the cause of death, they think it is something else, pneumonia or another disease. If there were more tests, more people would believe that it is true.”

Additionally, the city of Rio de Janeiro’s public healthcare system is under severe strain from the number of patients arriving with symptoms of COVID-19. In the city’s public hospitals, every intensive care bed set up to deal with the effects of the pandemic is now occupied. On June 24, Globo News reported that there were 356 patients waiting for an intensive care bed to become available.

To help people who are in severe need and encourage people to stay at home, the Brazilian federal government has recently introduced a monthly stipend of 600 Brazilian real (around $107 USD) for workers who run very small businesses or make ends meet selling food or other products on street corners. “The assistance that the government is giving, we believe it will help a lot in terms of people staying at home,” Silva says.

Yet there are still many who will not have access to such payments. That, Silva explains, is because, “there are a lot of people here in Brazil who do not have [identity] documents." To be eligible, people will need to sign up on a government website and submit a tax number. For those unable to do so, Silva says, "we need to think of other ways to help, with donations of food and the like.”

As well as producing and distributing their newspaper, Voz das Comunidades, in normal times, organizes community gatherings and social and cultural events. With the possibility of hosting events now off the cards, Silva’s organization has diverted its resources to aiding those the government will not reach. “We have donated basic food baskets and meals to those most in need at this time,” he says.

That sense of community solidarity and the generosity of neighbors and strangers alike is all that is seeing many people through these difficult times. “People who were not in need yesterday are in need today,” Silva stresses. “Here in the Complexo do Alemão, people have tried to help each other with donations of food. People who are able to have been helping their neighbors. But these people are also in need.

“The government could do more to test people, to attend people with health problems, but little is being done. I’ve seen favelas that are self-organizing. People are helping each other because the government is not giving support.”