Indigenous people from the Parque das Tribos community mourn besides the coffin of Chief Messias, 53, of the Kokama tribe who died of COVID-19, in Manaus, Brazil, on May 14, 2020.
Brazil's Sao Paulo state is building thousands of vertical funeral plots in order to meet the demand caused by the surge in coronavirus victims.
Heber Vila, director of Evolution Technology Funderaria, the company that manufactures these vertical cemeteries, said the plots being constructed of recyclable materials are safe as it prevents any type of contact between cemetery visitors in the form of liquids or gases from the body.
An estimated 13,000 vertical plots are being built in three cemeteries in Sao Paulo state, one of the areas in Brazil hardest-hit by the COVID-19 outbreak.
The impact of the virus on Sao Paulo prompted Gov. Joao Doria to repeat his stance of gradually easing lockdown restrictions, although President Jair Bolsonaro has complained that the lockdown measures to contain the spread of the virus have hurt the economy.
Brazil leads all Latin America in coronavirus infections with more than 200,000 confirmed cases, and the death toll is nearing 14,000.