Death and denial in Brazil’s Amazon capital

MANAUS, Brazil (AP) — Manaus is one the cities in Brazil hardest hit by the new coronavirus. According to city funeral data the number of deaths has nearly tripled in April and May. But due to the lack of testing, just 5% of the more than 4,300 burials in the last two months were confirmed cases of COVID-19. In the absence of evidence proving otherwise, families of the dead are quick to deny the possibility that the virus claimed their loved ones. Further fueling the collective denial at the grassroots is misinformation and conflicting messages from the country’s leaders. Chief among skeptics is President Jair Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly called COVID-19 a “little flu.”