Amid the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil, the populist president Jair Bolsonaro is refusing to sacrifice the economy for the sake of public health. Just like him, his supporters downplay the crisis and denounce the “coronavirus tyranny”. But local authorities have taken the lead and have adopted lockdown measures against the president’s advice. Even in the favelas, the locals are afraid of Covid-19 and are doing what they can. With 13 million people living in these cramped working-class neighbourhoods, the threat of a health disaster is only too real. Our reporters in Brazil investigate.