VENEZUELAN President Nicolas Maduro has sent a convoy carrying oxygen to Brazil after hospitals in the Amazon city of Manaus reported that supplies were exhausted.

A second wave of the virus in Brazil has overwhelmed the health system in many areas. The country has the second-highest death toll from Covid-19 on Earth, with about 210,000 having died from the illness, with many regional leaders accusing President Jair Bolsonaro of undermining efforts to contain it.

Venezuela has registered just over 1,000 deaths from the virus, having adopted a Covid suppression strategy. Caracas Mayor Erika Farias said on Monday that a Plan for Research, Awareness and Prevention of Covid-19, staffed by Venezuelan and Cuban medical workers, now had a presence in every neighbourhood of the capital.

Venezuela’s aid to Brazil was despatched despite Brazil still recognising unelected pretender Juan Guaido as Venezuelan president.