Virus imperils Amazon deforestation, Brazil’s indigenous tribes

Coronavirus fears lead to increased logging in Brazil’s Amazon and disease puts indigenous people’s health at risk.

As Brazil decreases environmental protections due to the coronavirus pandemic, data from the National Institute shows that deforestation in the Amazon has increased by more than 50 percent, compared with last year.

But as illegal loggers push deeper into the Amazon, it also raises the chance its indigenous communities could catch the disease.

President Jair Bolsonaro has played down the threat the coronavirus poses and encouraged development in the Amazon.

Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reports.