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Complete Epidemiological Bulletin (updated on August 17, 2020)

The Complete Epidemiological Bulletin that we present now, with updated data until August 17, 2020, shows the number of confirmed cases and deaths of Covid-19 among indigenous peoples in Maranhão, both by the Municipal Health Secretariats of Maranhão (SEMUS), and by the Maranhão Statistical Committee.

From our first Bulletin, with updated data until May 31, 2020, to the sixth bulletin, with updated data until July 29, 2020, we use the methodological strategy of mapping, systematizing and qualifying the data presented by SEMUS in the municipalities of Maranhão that focus on ITs in the state. Of the total of thirty-one (31) municipalities that focus on ITs, we monitor and disclose data from eleven (11) municipalities that register, in their bulletins, confirmed cases of Covid-19 among indigenous people. They are: Amarante do Maranhão, Arame, Barra do Corda, Bom Jardim, Guilherme's Center, Fernando Falcão, Grajaú, Jenipapo dos Vieiras, Maranhãozinho, Montes Altos and Sítio Novo.

From the beginning, the municipalities mapped above, even registering cases of indigenous people contaminated by Covid-19, never did so in order to make explicit who the contaminated peoples were and what their Indigenous Lands were. Most of these municipalities speak of “village” and “Indigenous Area”. Only one, the municipality of Amarante do Maranhão, speaks of “Indigenous Lands”, however, without saying who are the contaminated peoples in these lands. It was within this context that the Rede (CO) VIDA project sought to identify indigenous lands, villages and situate indigenous peoples who are in those lands and villages. Thus, we were able to expand and qualify the data previously presented by SEMUS in Maranhão.

However, in these almost three months of mapping and systematization of Covid-19 data among indigenous peoples in the state, the bulletins from the health departments of the municipalities that affect indigenous lands, have not made any progress with regard to the qualification of peoples' data. On the contrary, there was a setback with regard to the way in which these data were disseminated.

The setback to which we refer refers mainly to the lack of dissemination of Covid-19 data by SEMUS in some municipalities, such as Barra do Corda and Bom Jardim. In the previous bulletin, we highlight the case of SEMUS in Grajaú that, since the beginning of the mapping, recorded the numbers of confirmed cases by “village” and, at the end of July, at the request of the base pole, removed this type of record from its bulletin. and started to use another nomenclature to register such cases: “Indigenous Area”. Without the villages, we cannot locate the land, only the people, when this is possible, since in an indigenous land it is common to have more than one people, with their specific forms of territorial occupation. SEMUS de Grajaú continues to record the Covid-19 indigenous cases in this format, bringing the numbers by indigenous area, unlike the municipalities of Barra do Corda and Bom Jardim.

SEMUS in Barra do Corda changed the methodology for disseminating Covid-19 data (previously, the specification of indigenous cases was through the definition “Indigenous Area”) and started to present and disseminate, on the city hall website, the epidemiological bulletins homogenizing its citizens. He discarded the cultural diversity that characterizes not only this, but the majority of the state's municipalities. In order to meet our research proposal - map, systematize and specify which indigenous peoples and how many are being affected by Covid-19 -, we sought to gather information from municipal news blogs, the health and communication team, but we did not obtain feedback on the specificities of these data, only the general bulletin. In the municipality of Bom Jardim, the situation was aggravated by the deactivation of the profile of the social network Instagram, which also released epidemiological data. Therefore, we still have no access to data from these municipalities.

In other words, the SEMUS of these municipalities stopped reporting the cases without pointing out any justification for making this decision. However, we know that not disclosing the data of the pandemic makes it possible to manipulate that data and give the State the power to exempt itself from any construction of public policies to contain it. Undisclosed cases make the stage of the disease invisible and smooth the health crisis.

Even with all the problems presented since the beginning of the dissemination of data by SEMUS, such as the non-qualification of the number of confirmed cases by people, IT and / or village, it was possible to follow the evolutionary picture of the disease from the accumulated data, even though by “village”, or by “indigenous area”, as they registered. This strategy also enabled us to know who the people were and what land they belonged to. Nowadays, it has been increasingly difficult to access SEMUS information.

Another important issue in the form of current disclosure is the delay in updating the data. Both in the websites and in the profiles that the city halls and / or municipal departments have on the social network Instagram (which since the beginning was a source used by the (Co) VIDA Network), the speed in the dissemination of data does not follow the same rhythm of the previous months . The non-publication of data by these municipalities makes tackling the pandemic, at its different levels, political, social, health and the daily lives of indigenous communities, even more difficult.

We reiterate the questioning of the previous Bulletin: who is interested in this omission and invisibility of Covid-19 data among indigenous peoples? Does hindering access to pandemic data aim to minimize the health crisis that is spreading through indigenous territories? Maranhão has become the epicenter of cases of Covid-19, with regard to indigenous peoples, with 1,118 confirmed cases between 06 and 17 July 2020. It left this position without, however, decreasing the number of cases. On the contrary. The bulletin of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), dated August 24, 2020, presents 1,724 confirmed cases of Covid -19 among indigenous people in the state.

The table below shows the data for the confirmed numbers based on the systematization of the SEMUS data. Later on we will confront you with the data from the Maranhão Statistical Committee. For this table we kept the numbers of Barra do Corda and Bom Jardim the same as in our last bulletin (July 29, 2020) because we no longer have access to data on the indigenous epidemiological situation.

CASOS-INDÍGENAS-DA-COVID-19-TABELA-01-BE

As we have shown, the majority of the municipalities, when registering cases of the disease among indigenous people, disregard the existing ethnic diversity, working with a conception of a generic Indian. The municipality of Arame uses the nomenclature of “Indigenous Area”; Bom Jardim (“Village”); Barra do Corda (“Indigenous Area”) and Guilherme's Center (“Indigenous”). The only municipality that brings data by IT, as we stated earlier, is the municipality of Amarante do Maranhão. The municipalities of Fernando Falcão, Jenipapo dos Vieiras, Maranhãozinho, Montes Altos and Sítio Novo present the record of confirmed cases by villages. However, these nomenclatures do not contribute to evidence which are the people who are suffering from the contamination and who need greater sanitary effort for their proper control.

Covid-19 data among the Tentar / Guajajara people continues on an increasing scale. At TI Araribóia, when we compare the data in this bulletin with the previous bulletin, dated July 29, 2020, we see the record of one more case confirmed by SEMUS in Amarante do Maranhão (there were 82, now there are 83), as well as one more case confirmed in Wire (there were 150, now there are 151). In the Bacurizinho, Morro Branco and Urucu-Juruá TIs (SEMUS in Grajaú) the number went from 119 to 123 confirmed cases.

In the Canabrava / Guajajara TI there was an increase in the number of confirmed cases. According to SEMUS data from the municipality of Jenipapo dos Vieiras, there was an increase of twenty-five (25) cases. From three hundred and thirteen (313), on 07.29.2020, to three hundred and thirty-eight (338), twenty-four (24) of them only in Canabrava village and one (01) more in Marraw village. The data from SEMUS in Barra do Corda remains the same as in the previous bulletin (203) in virtue of the non-publication of the specific data of the indigenous people, already commented in this text.

In the Alto Turiaçu TI, the contamination numbers among the Ka'apor people remained the same as in the last bulletin: Centro do Guilherme with sixty-nine (69) confirmed cases and Maranhãozinho, fifty-two (52). At TI Governador, where the Gavião / Pukobyê live, the number remained the same: 12 confirmed cases. Here we return to the questions asked in the last BEC. What does this relative stabilization in the daily records of confirmed cases represent? The indigenous role in facing the pandemic, joint actions to implement sanitary barriers, the absence of tests to prove more cases? These are questions that we are trying to answer from the data analysis.

Among the Canela people, the number of cases increased again at TI Kanela. On July 29, 2020, there were four (04) active cases. On July 31, that number dropped to one (01). However, this number increased to two (02) on the 7th of August, to three (03) on the 10th, to four (04) on the 12th, to five (05) on the 13th and to six (06) in the 15th of that month. The number of six (06) confirmed cases remains the same until the date of August 17, 2020. In Aldeia Velha, since our last bulletin, there were no more records of active cases, considering the reference date of this bulletin. In the Porquinhos TI, the number of active cases in the Porquinhos village, which on July 29, 2020, was only one (01) case, has been zeroed since August 6, 2020 and remains so until the update date of this report card. Due to the death recorded in this IT, we chose to keep it in our table even with the number of cases zeroed. It is worth remembering that Fernando Falcão and Bom Jardim bulletins present the numbers of cases in decreasing form, as the recovered cases appear.

Among the Krikati people, from TI Krikati, the number of cases in the Campo Alegre village remained and in the São José village increased from 23 to 24 confirmed cases, both reported by Semus in the municipality of Montes Altos. In the village of Recantos dos Cocais, Krikati indigenous land, where a few Guajajara also live, the number remained the same: 02 confirmed cases. In the village of Nova Jerusalem, municipality of Sítio Novo, there was a record of one (01) new confirmed case, totaling 28. It should be noted that the number of confirmed and recovered in the village of Nova Jerusalem had not increased since our first mapping, on 31 May 2020. This is the first time that we have registered a new case.

Between the numbers of Covid-19 cases registered by SEMUS, which we presented in the analyzes above, and the data made available by the Maranhão Statistical Committee, we have a mismatch of information about the number of confirmed cases. Even though the SEMUS data was updated until August 17 and the Committee's data until August 3, the number of cases confirmed by the latter is much higher. In the data made available by the Committee, we can access the data by IT and by village. From these data, we elaborate tables with the case records by people, IT and village.

In the case of the Ka'apor people, whose data are presented in the table below, we can see a discrepancy in the number of data when compared to SEMUS data from Centro do Guilherme and Maranhãozinho, which together account for 121 cases. Although in the data below we present, according to the Statistical Committee, data from two villages located in the state of Pará (Xi é pihu and Paraku y Renda), the numbers of confirmed cases are still much higher, totaling 194 in the totality of villages and 182 in locations within the state of Maranhão.

TABELA-KA_APOR_edited.jpg

Among Tenthar / Guajajara, we also observed a much larger number of cases, totaling one thousand one hundred and thirty-three cases (1,133) cases in eight (08) TIs, as shown in the table below.

Tabela%20Tentehar_edited.jpg
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In the Awá-Guajá TI, the Statistical Committee records two (02) confirmed cases of the Tenthar-Guajajara people. At TI Araribóia, we see the record of 248 cases, 15 more cases when compared to SEMUS in Arame and Amarante do Maranhão and 5 deaths. In the Bacurizinho, Morro Branco and Urucu-Juruá TIs, 131 confirmed cases are registered, 21 more cases than those reported by SEMUS in Grajaú and 2 deaths. At TI Rio Pindaré we see a record of 232 confirmed cases from Covid-19. It should be noted that SEMUS in Bom Jardim presented the data in a decreasing way, because it excluded the recovered cases from the bulletin. In our last bulletin, that number was only 06.

At TI Canabrava, the numbers of cases confirmed by SEMUS exceed those of the Committee. The SEMUS in Barra do Corda and Jenipapo dos Vieiras together add up to 541 cases, surpassing the data from the Statistical Committee, which brings a total of 498 confirmed cases. However, in the Committee's data we have 11 new villages that do not appear in the SEMUS data (highlighted in red in the table), even though the SEMUS data are “more up-to-date”, in terms of dates, than the Committee data.

We emphasize that the villages Canabrava and Marraw, which in the Committee's data record four (04) and one (01) case, respectively, had an increase in the SEMUS data, especially in the Canabrava village, with an increase of 24 cases, totaling 28. In Marraw village, only one (01) more cases, totaling two (02). It is worth remembering that SEMUS data from Barra Corda are not being made available with the specific numbers by “indigenous area” and in the SEMUS table we keep the number of our last bulletin (29.07.2020).

Still thinking the Tenthar / Guajajara people, we also point out that in the data of the Statistical Committee we do not find records of Covid-19 in the village Recanto dos Cocais, which is located within the TI Krikati, but is occupied by Tenthar / Guajajara.

With regard to the number of confirmed cases between Gavião / Pukobyê, at TI Governador, we have a difference of 05 confirmed cases, since for SEMUS in Amarante do Maranhão there are 12 confirmed cases and, according to data from the Statistical Committee, 17 .

Tabela-GAVI%C3%83%C2%83O_edited.jpg

In the Committee's data on the Covid-19 records at TI Krikati, among the Krikati people, the numbers are much higher than those presented by SEMUS in Montes Altos (Campo Alegre - 06 and São José - 24) and Sítio Novo (villages) village Nova Jerusalem - 28), totaling 60 cases, 02 in the village Recanto dos Cocais, where indigenous people from the tryhar / Guajajara people live. According to the Committee's records, the total numbers at TI Krikati are one hundred and eleven (111) cases, as shown in the table below.

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Among the Kanela people, the Committee highlights 216 cases in the villages Escalvado, Aldeia Velha and Porquinhos. In the SEMUS table we present only 06 cases in the Kanela and Porquinhos TIs, notified by the municipality of Fernando Falcão. This reduced number reflects the strategy used by SEMUS by Fernando Falcão, which removes the recovered cases from the bulletins and, therefore, presents the numbers in a decreasing way.

POVO-KANELA-TABELA-_edited.jpg

If we add the data of the Committee presented in the tables above, organized by indigenous peoples in their respective TIs, we have a total of 1,477 cases, updated until August 3, 2020. In the SEMUS table we have a total of 1,102 cases, updated until the 17th of August 2020. In the SESAI / DSEI-MA bulletin, of the 17th of August 2020, the base date for updating this bulletin, the total number of confirmed cases was 1,370. If we compare DSEI-MA and the Statistical Committee, we have a difference of 107 cases. However, when examining the consolidated data of the Committee, the State Health Force and CIMI, the total number of confirmed cases is 3,411, updated until August 3, 2020.

TABELA-COMPARATIVA-_edited.jpg

If we add the data of the Committee presented in the tables above, organized by indigenous peoples in their respective TIs, we have a total of 1,477 cases, updated until August 3, 2020. In the SEMUS table we have a total of 1,102 cases, updated until the 17th of August 2020. In the SESAI / DSEI-MA bulletin, of the 17th of August 2020, the base date for updating this bulletin, the total number of confirmed cases was 1,370. If we compare DSEI-MA and the Statistical Committee, we have a difference of 107 cases. However, when examining the consolidated data of the Committee, the State Health Force and CIMI, the total number of confirmed cases is 3,411, updated until August 3, 2020.

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In the SESAI / DSEI-MA bulletin of August 17, 2020, the number registered was 25 deaths, a difference of 14 deaths. It is worth mentioning that, as far as deaths are concerned, we continue to be in constant dialogue with the indigenous peoples, especially the Tenthar / Guajajara and the Krikati.

Tremembé (from Raposa and Engenho), located in the municipality of Raposa and São José de Ribamar, and Akroá Gamela, located in the municipalities of Penalva, Viana and Matinha, did not appear in the bulletins of the health departments of the respective municipalities in which they are in the process of fighting for the demarcation of their territories. From the Statistical Committee, they are incorporated into the state's health mapping. We made a specific publication on the health situation of these peoples, at the request of the indigenous leaders themselves, on August 22, 2020, available at the link: https://www.redecovida2020.com/trememb%C3%A9-e-os- akro% C3% A1-gamela-na-pande

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