COVID-19 Impact | A look at how Brazil provided medical care to Amazon's "guardians of the forest"

The Brazilian military provided medical care to the coronavirus-hit Guajajara tribe, Amazon's 'guardians of the forest', amid criticism that Brazil was not protecting vulnerable indigenous people from the pandemic. Guajajara, a tribe that lives on several reservations in the rainforest of Maranhao state, praised the armed forces for air lifting doctors and nurses to do rapid COVID-19 tests and examine for other diseases, but criticized the government’s indigenous health service SESAI for not protecting them against the novel coronavirus. (Image: Reuters)

A member of the Brazilian Armed Forces medical team examines a child from the indigenous Guajajara ethnic group, amid the spread of the coronavirus, in the indigenous village of Urucu Jurua, municipality of Grajau, Maranhao state, Brazil October 3. (Image: Reuters/Adriano Machado)

A woman from the Guajajara indigenous ethnic group is carried before a member of the Brazilian Armed Forces medical team examines her, amid the spread of the COVID-19, at a community school in the indigenous village of Morro Branco in the municipality of Grajau, state of Maranhao, Brazil October 4. (Image: Reuters/Adriano Machado)

Women from the Guajajara indigenous ethnic group wear protective masks, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease at a community school in the indigenous village of Morro Branco in the municipality of Grajau, state of Maranhao, Brazil October 4. (Image: Reuters/Adriano Machado)

A member of the Brazilian Armed Forces medical team examines a child from the indigenous Guajajara ethnic group, amid the spread of the COVID-19 in the indigenous village of Urucu Jurua, municipality of Grajau, Maranhao state, Brazil October 3. (Image: Reuters/Adriano Machado)

A member of the Brazilian Armed Forces medical team examines a man from the indigenous Guajajara ethnic group, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease, in the indigenous village of Urucu Jurua, municipality of Grajau, Maranhao state, Brazil October 3. (Image: Reuters/Adriano Machado)

A member of the Brazilian Armed Forces medical team examines a man from the indigenous Guajajara ethnic group, amid the spread of the coronavirus, in the indigenous village of Urucu Jurua, municipality of Grajau, Maranhao state, Brazil October 3. (Image: Reuters/Adriano Machado)

Children from the Guajajara indigenous ethnic group are seen, amid the spread of the COVID-19, at a community school in the indigenous village of Morro Branco in the municipality of Grajau, state of Maranhao, Brazil October 4. (Image: Reuters/Adriano Machado)

A woman from the Guajajara indigenous ethnic group wearing a protective mask amid the spread of the coronavirus disease, holds a child at a community center in the indigenous village of Urucu Jurua, municipality of Grajau, Maranhao sate, Brazil October 3. (Image: Reuters/Adriano Machado)

A member of the Brazilian Armed Forces medical team examines a child from the Guajajara indigenous ethnic group, amid the spread of the coronavirus, at a community school in the indigenous village of Morro Branco in the municipality of Grajau, state of Maranhao, Brazil October 4. (Image: Reuters/Adriano Machado)