The coronavirus pandemic has revealed the extent of Rio’s deeply embedded socio-political problems. Initially, COVID-19 was thought of as a disease affecting only those in the asphalt, emphasising the stark contrast between cariocas who could afford to travel and live luxurious lives to those living in the hill. However, coronavirus does not discriminate against a certain group in society over another. Rather, the magnitude of implications depend on which areas are most ‘hazard-prone’ (Oliver-Smith et al. 2017). Thus, the possibilities of mitigating risks associated with a public health crisis in Rio is determined by the conditions in which the cariocas are confined to during lockdown. The disease has now spread to the peripheries of the metropolis, exposing a combination of urban problems concerning infrastructure, ineffective institutional governance and the social dimensions of a public health crisis.

The infrastructure of Rio’s water and sanitation systems faces it greatest test in the form of coronavirus, revealing blatant inadequacies in basic sanitation and the water supply for cariocas of the hill. Some inhabitants do not have adequate access to water, sourcing their household use from storm drains, rivers, or shared wells serving entire communities. Even residents who have access to water are experiencing outages from taps, reflective of poor water scarcity aversion planning by CEDAE (Monplaisir 2020). The typology of housing in favelas is also a problem exacerbating the potential spread of coronavirus as sprawling clusters of high-density shanty towns means residents are constantly in proximity to each other. As reported by the Guardian (see video below) households can even have up to 10 members sharing 3 rooms between them.

The severity of coronavirus is also exposing the ineffectiveness of governance, both within and beyond Rio’s municipality. As part of tackling the virus, partial lockdown measures were placed on the city by municipal governors in mid-March, opposing the ‘expert’ advice of President Jair Bolsanaro to continue life as normal. Though the measures are strictly enforced, not all workers of the informal economy have the opulence of self-quarantine. The informal economy serving all favela communities is paralysed as a result of lockdown measures, but this doesn’t stop some workers making the difficult choice of venturing out instead of staying in (Monplaisir 2020). Unprotected by the virtues of formal employment, informal workers are politically marginalised, reflected through minimal intervention by the national executive and municipal bodies to form an effective economic solution helping residents who are unable to put food on the table.

The discrepancy of measures by the national and municipal government is pushing communities to enact solutions of their own. Local organisations in the Acari favela are supporting vulnerable families in the community by delivering food and household necessities to their doorstep. Furthermore, civic movement in the form of an online campaign, started by 160 community-based organisations, prompted the national government to organise a small fund for workers with precarious incomes, ensuring that those most in need will receive a baseline monthly stipend (Doré 2020).

Drugs gangs in favelas are also playing a role by ensuring cariocas comply with lockdown measures issued by Rio’s municipal government (Briso and Phillips 2020). The noise in Cidade de Deus is drowned out each night by loudspeakers, with drug traffickers from the Red Command threatening violence if residents are found outside.

The range of actors involved in mediating the impacts of coronavirus suggests that ineffective governance over Rio is a complex issue entwined with the social, political and environmental. Considering the spatiality of inadequate infrastructure further reveals the divide between poorer cariocas fronting the burden of coronavirus and those who can afford to stay at home. Perhaps better policies of governance in Rio could consider bridging the binaries of the formal/informal and how to better distribute the reduction of risk between all residents.

List of references:

Briso, C.B., and T. Phillips (2020) ‘Brazil gangs impose strict curfews to slow coronavirus spread’ (WWW) The Guardian: The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/25/brazil-rio-gangs-coronavirus: 26 March 2020)

Doré, A.A. (2020) ‘Covid-19 Unmasks the Privilege of Isolation in Rio de Janeiro and All Brazil’ (WWW) RioOnWatch: RioOnWatch (https://www.rioonwatch.org/?p=58677: 27 April 2020)

Monplaisir, S.A. (2020) ‘Coronavirus Pandemic Exposes Rio’s Longstanding Water and Sanitation Issues’ (WWW) The Rio Times: The Rio Times (https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/sponsored/coronavirus-pandemic-exposes-rios-longstanding-water-and-sanitation-issues/: 27 April 2020)

Oliver-Smith, A., Alcantara-Ayala, I., Burton, I., and A. Lavell (2017) ‘The social construction of disaster risk: Seeking root causes’, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 22, 469-474.