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The unchecked spread of Covid-19 in Manaus

Around three-quarters of the Brazilian city’s population are thought to have been infected

Pictures of coffins and mass graves seen by satellites showed that Manaus has been badly affected by Covid- 19. Now analysis of blood samples shows the extent to which the virus took hold in the Amazon city earlier this year. Investigators Ester Sabino and Lewis Buss from Brazil’s University of Sao Paulo discuss how and why the virus spread.

Humanity has been modifying the environment for millennia, but have we now reached a point where it’s all too much? An analysis by Emily Elhacham from Tel Aviv University shows the amount of stuff produced by humanity, from plastics to buildings now has a greater mass than all natural biomass on the planet.

And China has been to the moon. Space watcher Andrew Jones tells us how the robotic mission mimics the manned missions of the 1960s and 70s.

(Image: Getty Images)

Presenter: Roland Pease
Producer: Julian Siddle

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26 minutes

Last on

Fri 11 Dec 202018:32GMT
BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only

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    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only

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