Brazil’s coronavirus outbreak is one of the world’s most severe, with more than 2m cases recorded since March.
In fact, it is the second worst affected country behind the US. More than 74,000 people have died with the virus there and, owing to a lack of testing, the true figures are believed to be even higher.
The outbreak took some time to reach Brazil and it was the Amazonas region which was badly hit by the first wave of cases.Officials warned that the stock of coffins in the region was likely to run out. They were forced to dig large burial sites as deaths spiked, and poverty and malnutrition made tackling the virus in the heart of the Amazon rainforest a major challenge.
Indigenous communities have been among the worst affected by the virus and Manaus is home to a large proportion of them.
Many of their homes are situated far away from health facilities. On the outskirts of the city, nurse Vanderlecia Ortega dos Santos, responded to the crisis by volunteering to care for her indigenous community of 700 families.
But it was not long before the virus spread to major cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Cases then began to rise sharply.
In May, São Paulo’s mayor warned that its underfunded health system was on the verge of collapse as it became a new hotspot for Covid-19. He said demand for hospital beds had skyrocketed.But despite the rise in cases there was still no national lockdown. States and cities adopted their own measures, but these were met by protests and data later showed that compliance lessened as time went on.
Stay-at-home orders and other restrictions were criticised by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who denounced them as “dictatorial”. He even joined anti-lockdown protests in the capital, Brasilia.
Mr Bolsonaro has repeatedly played down the risks of what he calls “little flu” and his response to the pandemic has been heavily criticised.
He has argued that regional lockdowns are having a more damaging effect than the virus itself, and accused the media of spreading panic and paranoia.
And while many people share his concerns about the economic impact of lockdowns, health officials have disagreed with his approach. In fact, two doctors have left their posts as health minister since the pandemic began, one was sacked, one resigned.
Mr Bolsonaro also said he would not be seriously affected by the virus. “I’m not going to be brought down by a little flu,” he said in March. That’s been put to the test, as earlier this month he tested positive for Covid-19.
On 20 June, Brazil became only the second country to pass one million cases and that number has continued to rise steadily. Experts say it is likely much higher due to a lack of testing.
But lockdowns were lifted even as cases surged. In Rio and São Paulo, restaurants and bars were reopened despite the continued increase in transmissions.
The rise in cases and the relaxation of lockdown measures left some Brazilians feeling as though they needed to take matters into their own hands.
And one couple took extreme measures to keep safe.
There is some hope, however, two major vaccine tests, in partnership with the pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Sinovac, will soon begin final phase testing on thousands of Brazilian volunteers.
The hope is that a breakthrough on this front could help Brazil reverse its worrying rise in cases and deaths. This striking image shows a cemetery in Manaus where new graves have been dug during the pandemic.