In Oaxaca, Mexico, on the outskirts of many small, remote Indigenous communities’ roads coming into the villages are watched by volunteer guards and blocked by improvised barricades of stone, chain and wood. The invader they fear is COVID-19.
According to anthropologists at OSU many of Mexico’s Indigenous population are not only poor but often ignored by state and federal governments when it comes to fighting against COVID-19. Their defense against the disease rests entirely on their community.
The best way they can fight against infection is simply limiting access to their villages.
In this instance the most remote villages have the advantage. Many of the communities just have one road that goes in and out of town. The topiles or guards won’t let outsiders in and residents have stopped going to near-by cities for fear of bringing the virus back.
OSU researchers have been conducting their work in the central valleys of Oaxaca and writing about how they are dealing with the pandemic.
Among 500 some communities that are rural, indigenous or both researchers have found no cases of COVID-19 among their populations.