I would like to think this rather extreme position was due to the minister’s ignorance of his own religion, rather than its official doctrine, but even so it tells you something about the mentality attracted to these beliefs.

LIVE SCIENCE – April 14, 2020 | The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of five indigenous people in the Brazilian Amazon, including that of a 15-year-old boy from a remote tribe, according to news sources.

The teenager died on April 9 at a hospital in Boa Vista, the capital of Brazil’s Roraima state, according to The Independent.

The boy was the first member of the Yanomami indigenous people known to have died from the new coronavirus. No one knows for sure how he contracted the illness, but his community lives near the Uraricoera River in northern Brazil, where up to 10,000 illegal gold miners have set up camps, according to 2019 coverage by Survival International, an organization that defends indigenous rights worldwide.

LIVE SCIENCE – April 15, 2020 | A new study supports the notion that loss of either smell or taste may be an early warning sign of COVID-19.

Anecdotal accounts of smell and taste loss associated with COVID-19 have been reported worldwide, but without formal studies, scientists could not determine how common the symptom was among those infected. Now, a new study published online April 12 in the journal International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology has found that smell and taste loss appear to be common initial symptoms in patients with mild infections.

People with smell loss can often still sense different tastes, like saltiness or sweetness, but cannot identify specific flavors, according to the medical reference site Merck Manual. Therefore, people with smell loss often report losing their sense of taste, as well.