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The coronavirus case curve is still weeks away from its apex in Brazil, but its lethality and the delay in diagnoses are already putting pressure on the largest cemetery in Sao Paulo and Latin America, with express burials and funerals without hugs.

"Here we bury about 45 people a day, but in the last week they are 12 to 15 more . It is much worse than what we see in the news, this is serious," a gravedigger told AFP who, in a lot in Vila Formosa I, dug graves in a row to be used the next day.

Vila Formosa I , on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, stretches endlessly before the eye. It is estimated that the remains of 1.5 million people rest in its 750,000 km2 .

One part is covered in weeds, the other divided into lots of red soil. From one end to the other, a wall full of ossuaries with endless names and dates advances. On the afternoon of March 31, the drawers followed one another so quickly that the gravediggers had to ask for a few minutes to finish with a burial before the next one began . Under strong sun and clear skies, four burials were carried out in half an hour in a single batch: three suspected Covid-19 cases and one confirmed.

"My grandmother was with the symptoms and the examination was performed, but the result will take another two weeks," said Ricardo Santos, who quickly and with few relatives watched over Regina Almeida, 92, in a closed coffin in one of the three green cloth awnings arranged outside the cemetery chapel, in an attempt to follow sanitary recommendations.

Gravediggers perform a burial in the Vila Formosa cemetery.AFP

Sao Paulo, the epicenter of the pandemic in Brazil, totals more than 150 of the 241 deaths from coronavirus in the country since the first contagion was registered in February. But the delay in diagnosis lags the figure . The Ministry of Health counts 201 examinations of deceased awaiting results.

"Death to clarify"

The diagnosis of José de Santana, 77, is one of the list. Her son, Genilton de Santana, buried his father accompanied only by a friend. Wearing a white mask and tear-filled eyes, she shows the death certificate.

"Death to clarify, awaits examinations", appears in the line of the cause. "Show this to see if people begin to understand how serious it is!" Genilton said, before loading the closed coffin.

Sao Paulo and other Brazilian states have adopted partial quarantine measures, although President Jair Bolsonaro considered until recently that the Covid-19 was just "a constipation", before admitting on Tuesday that it was the "biggest challenge" in the country.

Aerial view of graves prepared in the Vila Formosa cemetery.AFP

And the country began to prepare for the emergency, which should reach its peak between April and June. A federal decree authorized on Wednesday the burial of people without a death certificate in exceptional cases , to prevent the overflow of funeral services. The coronavirus also modified the preparation of the bodies that, as a precaution, now leave hospitals in a special plastic bag.

The São Paulo mayor's office, which buys 6,000 coffins for its funeral services network every six months, requested another 8,000 in March. Gravediggers should wear white protective suits, masks, and gloves. With the sun at its zenith, some take off the top of the suit at times.

From the moment the hearse door is opened until the flower wreath is placed on the earth-covered burial mound, it takes just six minutes .

The death certificates of all confirmed or suspected cases of covid-19 are labeled as "D3", which requires keeping the coffin closed, generating a faceless farewell and wakeless funerals for fewer than 10 people . Many attendees wear masks, alcohol, and gloves.

The parade of family members entering and leaving does not stop. Some say goodbye by touching their elbows. Others fail to abide by the rules of social distancing amid loss; and faced with the uncertainty of a diagnosis, they embrace each other, saying: "Come on, this is very sad."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Brazil
  • Jair Bolsonaro
  • Coronavirus
  • Covid 19

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