Photos: Brazil virus despair stretches from Rio to Amazon

Relatives attend a mass burial at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery, in Manaus, Amazonas state. The cemetery is carrying out burials in common graves due to the large number of deaths from COVID-19.

From the Amazon city of Manaus to the seemingly endless urban sprawl of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, freshly dug graves have been filling up quickly for weeks with the bodies of Brazilians killed by COVID-19. | Above: Funeral workers in protective gear prepare a grave at the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery, for a woman who is suspected to have died of COVID-19, in Manaus, Amazonas state.

Deaths from the coronavirus hit some cities so hard starting last month that officials were unprepared for the crush of bodies even though regional governments imposed measures aimed at halting the spread of the virus. | Above: Water utility workers disinfect a flight of outdoor steps, in the Vidigal favela which overlooks the oceanfront Leblon and Ipanema neighborhoods, in Rio de Janeiro.

The iconic Christ the Redeemer statue is lit up as if wearing a protective mask and with a hashtag that reads in Portuguese: "Mask saves," in Rio de Janeiro.

The body of Luiz Carlos Da Rocha, 36, lies on a street where he dropped dead at the Alemao Complex slum of Rio de Janeiro. After more than 12 hours on the street the body of Da Rocha, who the family said suffered from epilepsy, had not been picked up by authorities. Military police said that due the new coronavirus pandemic, they only can remove corpses in cases of violent death.

Relatives gather around the body of Raimundo Costa do Nascimento, 86, who died in his home of pneumonia, amid the new coronavirus pandemic at the Sao Jorge neighborhood in Manaus. According to the family, they had to wait 10 hours for his body to be retrieved.

A volunteer carries a package with soap and detergent to be distributed to residents in an effort to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, in the Rocinha favela of Rio de Janeiro.

Family members watch as cemetery workers place into a niche a coffin with the remains of Carmen Valeria, 76, who is suspected to have died from the new coronavirus, in Rio de Janeiro.

An elderly woman pulls a grocery caddy filled with food donated by a non-governmental agency, in the Mandela favela of Rio de Janeiro.

Medical personnel interview commuters, checking to see if they have symptoms of the novel cornavirus, in Guarulhos, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo.

Inmates at the Puraquequara prison stand on a water tower as they protest against bad conditions and restrictions on family visits put in place, in Manaus.

Manicurist and mother of seven children Leticia Machado, who is jobless due to the novel coranvirus pandemic, sits listlessly on a bench in her home at the Turano favela, in Rio de Janeiro.

Taina dos Santos, third from left, attends the burial of her mother Ana Maria, a 56-year-old nursing assistant who died from the new coronavirus, in Rio de Janeiro.

A woman wearing a mask as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus, prays illuminated by a street lamp outside the closed Saint George Church, marking the feast day for Saint George who is associated with bravery and resistance, in Rio de Janeiro.

Cemetery workers wearing protective clothing stand by as family members attend a burial service at the Vila Formosa cemetery, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, in Sao Paulo.

A city worker disinfects an area of the Rocinha favela, in Rio de Janeiro.

Haircutters, wearing protective face masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus, attend to clients in a barbershop in the Mandela favela of Rio de Janeiro.

A man walks past a wall emblazoned with a mural depicting Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro putting on a protective face mask with the Portuguese word for "coward" written on it, in Rio de Janeiro.

Firefighter Elielson Silva plays his trumpet from the top of a ladder for residents cooped up at home, in Rio de Janeiro.