By Aicha El Hammar Castano, Rio De Janeiro, April 6, 2020<\/p>\n
“If I stay at home, I will die of starvation,” one street seller said.<\/p>\n
RIO DE JANEIRO — Many of the 1.5 million people living in the slums of Rio de Janeiro have been forced into making heartbreaking decisions as the novel coronavirus<\/a> threatens their very survival.<\/p>\n According to the Data Favela research institute<\/a>, 70% of families living in Brazil\u2019s slums, known as favelas, have already experienced a drop in income due to the coronavirus outbreak.<\/p>\n The institute’s research was based on interviews with more than 1,000 residents in 262 communities across Brazil.<\/p>\n “This is so strange, this virus has been brought by the riches[t] from holiday,” Vinicius Magalhaes, a 67-year-old who makes his living selling sunglasses in the streets of Leblon, one of the richest neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro, told ABC News. “What can I do except working? If I stay home I will die of starvation.\u201d<\/p>\n With the closing of stores, typically low-paid workers such as doormen, waiters, dishwashers and street-sellers have been fired or laid off with unpaid vacations until further notice.<\/p>\n There have been four confirmed cases of COVID-19<\/a> in Rocinha, the largest favela in Brazil situated on the hills overlooking Rio\u2019s Sao Conrado district, according to the health<\/a> secretary.<\/p>\n