Located on the Brazilian border with Suriname and French Guiana, the Amazonian state of Amapá has long suffered from precarious infrastructure, a lack of basic sanitation for a large chunk of the population, and general isolation, with 73 percent of the state covered by dense rainforest. Over the past week, that isolation has been felt more than ever, with most of Amapá left without electricity after a power plant caught fire.
The power outage has affected water supplies, telephone lines, and internet connections, among other services. Hospitals have canceled surgeries, the state has stopped tallying its coronavirus cases and...