Favela in Rio unveils memorial for COVID victims

at the inauguration of a COVID-19 victims memorial on Monday, families were paying homage to their lost loved ones and demanding more help from municipal authorities to provide support for families impacted by the pandemic.

Close to 400 people died in the Mare favela complex, a grouping of 16 favelas on the outskirts of Rio. Created by NGO (Maré Networks), the memorial is part of a wider project to protect the favela complex against COVID-19. It started in 2020, with free COVID-19 testing, food, cleaning products and medical assistance to care for stricken family members in their homes, all targeting the spread of infection and alleviating the economic effect of the pandemic. Rio has registered over 70% rate of vaccination against the virus, and the numbers of deaths and hospitalized have plummeted from the grim figures earlier this year.