In pictures: Indigenous nurse on frontline in virus fight

Reuters Vanderlecia puts on personal protective equipmentReuters

As the coronavirus pandemic has spread across Brazil, indigenous people have been among the worst affected.

On the outskirts of the city of Manaus, Parque das Tribos is a settlement of descendants from 35 different tribes.

Many homes lack plumbing and electricity, and there is no public health clinic nearby.

Nurse Vanderlecia Ortega dos Santos has responded by volunteering to care for her indigenous community of 700 families.

Reuters Vanderlecia and a friend walk along a road in Parque das TriosReuters

"Our people are dying from this disease here and they are not being recognised as indigenous people by the state," she told the Reuters news agency.

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Reuters Vanderlecia visits a patient's homeReuters

She has been monitoring some 40 patients suspected of having contracted Covid-19. To treat them, she gives her patients painkillers and other basic medicines, while offering guidance on limiting contagion.

Reuters Vanderlecia examines a patient indoorsReuters

She makes house visits wearing protective equipment - sometimes under a traditional Witoto headdress of macaw feathers.

Reuters Vanderlecia and Natalina wear protective masks as they talk to a neighbour outside of his homeReuters
Reuters Vanderlecia talks to a patient indoorsReuters

Restrictions imposed to slow the outbreak have damaged the local economy - including for women who work as maids and the men who labour on building sites.

Reuters Vanderlecia talks to Robson Santos da Silva, as she takes part in a protestReuters

She has taken part in protests when health officials visited, demanding medical attention for indigenous people.

Reuters VanderleciaReuters

She has also taken to wearing a mask which reads "Indigenous Lives Matter".

All photographs by Bruno Kelly / Reuters