Indigenous people of Paraná and Covid-19: 2020 overview

Abstract

The coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented global crisis. From the economic scenario until the Indigenous people’s lifestyle, including the typically capitalist society, has been significantly reshaped. As invisible characters in History, the Indigenous people of Paraná have been socially isolated and may be under non-measurable inequalities, misleading statistics, and limited support by the health institutions. This study aimed to analyze the vulnerabilities and resilience responses of the Indigenous people of Paraná to the Covid-19 pandemic and discuss the underreporting and inconsistency of data on confirmed cases and deaths by Covid-19 based on state and national health institutions. This research consists of descriptive and quali-quantitative analysis conducted online that lasted ten months in which: (i) data from two governmental health institutions responsible for monitoring Covid-19 among the Indigenous people of Paraná and two Indigenous were collected and compared; and (ii) perceptions from the Indigenous people of Paraná through interviews and responses to the considered problem at indigenous organizations. As non-conclusive results, it is mentioned: (a) the confirmed cases and deaths by Covid-19 among Indigenous people of Paraná were discrepant according to the considered health institutions; (b) the Indigenous people of Paraná have probably got limited access to health services, including the lack of Covid-19 testing that may be influencing on the underreporting data, and (c) the transparency of methods of data collection and publishing has been inadequate among the studied health institutions.