Exposing inequalities wherever it goes, COVID-19 has recently found its way to more remote indigenous communities in the Amazon, which is home to approximately 350 ethnic groups. By the end of June, 383 indigenous persons had died from the disease only in Brazil, most of them in the Amazon. The current state of vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples in the region highlights the long-term importance of enforcing individual and collective human rights for the full enjoyment of the right to health. Despite the different levels of exposure and socio-economic realities of communities living in the Amazon biome, which is divided among 9 countries, indigenous organisations identified common factors that increase the risk of contagion among Indigenous Peoples: social and economic disenfranchisement, decreased access to health services and information, poor sanitation, collective lifestyles, and frequent invasion of Indigenous lands.
