Death and denial in Brazil's Amazon capital

Manaus is one the cities in Brazil hardest hit by the new coronavirus
By
RENATA BRITO Associated Press
May 25, 2020, 11:46 PM
12 min read

MANAUS, Brazil -- As the white van approached Perfect Love Street, one by one chatting neighbors fell silent, covered their mouths and noses and scattered.

Men in full body suits carried an empty coffin into the small, blue house where Edgar Silva had spent two feverish days gasping for air before drawing his last breath on May 12.

“It wasn’t COVID,” Silva’s daughter, Eliete das Graças insisted to the funerary workers. She swore her 83-year-old father had died of Alzheimer’s disease, not that sickness ravaging the city’s hospitals.

But Silva, like the vast majority of those dying at home, was never tested for the new coronavirus. The doctor who signed his death certificate never saw his body before determining the cause: “cardiorespiratory arrest.”

More:
https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/death-denial-brazils-amazon-capital-70876028

(Don't forget, their president is proud to be considered the "Trump of the Tropics." )