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Taking measures into their own hands
But as the virus spreads across Brazil, many are questioning whether the government will seek to protect indigenous groups, which make up 0.5% of the population.
President Jair Bolsonaro is seen by many indigenous leaders as an enemy of their cause. He has said Brazil's indigenous lands are too big and that their natural resources should be shared with the rest of the population.
While many governors and mayors have ordered restrictions to reduce infections, the president has compared the coronavirus to a "a little flu" and advocated reopening schools and shopping centres.
In the face of government inaction, several indigenous organisations have asked their communities to suspend trips to cities and prevent visitors from entering their territory.
"Whoever is a true friend understands our fragility. Let's keep the coronavirus away from the villages," said a banner posted on a road in Mato Grosso state by members of the Karajá indigenous people.
Even with such precautions, experts say it is likely Covid-19 will eventually reach some villages and that it will be necessary to isolate the sick before they infect people in contact with them.
Experts also warn about the grave threat the coronavirus poses to indigenous groups who already live in voluntary isolation.
According to the federal agency for indigenous affairs, Funai, there are 107 known indigenous groups in Brazil's Amazon that have no contact with the outside world.
However, illegal loggers, hunters and evangelical missionaries are operating in their territories. And indigenous organisations and NGOs say there has been a sharp increase in incursions in recent years.
Funai has also had its budget slashed by consecutive administrations, making it harder for the agency to protect remote communities.
There are now fears that the battle against the coronavirus will further reduce its resources to protect the forest and those living in it
While most indigenous groups agree they should avoid visiting cities to reduce the risk of infection, many leaders say people could go hungry if they have no access to markets.
In São Gabriel da Cachoeira, an Amazonian municipality that borders Colombia and Venezuela, thousands of members of local groups travel on boats to the city each month to receive pensions and access government cash-transfer programmes.
The expansion of such programmes in recent decades means some communities have stopped hunting for and growing their own food, and now rely on them to survive.
Marivelton Baré, president of the Federation of Indigenous Organizations of Rio Negro (Foirn), says many local communities are "in a panic".
"We'll need to take the food to the villages so that they don't expose themselves during this critical moment," he says.
There are no ventilators in São Gabriel da Cachoeira's hospital, so a seriously ill patient would need to be sent to the capital of Amazonas, Manaus - a 1,000km-long (620-mile) boat journey away.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a nurse working for the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (Sesai) says its staff have no testing kits to detect Covid-19, and that there are not enough protective masks and other equipment to deal with cases in indigenous villages.
Sesai itself told the BBC it had provided "a series of technical documents, so that indigenous peoples, managers and employees could be guided to adopt measures to prevent coronavirus infection".
The agency added that all its health teams had received training on how to treat patients.
But it did not comment on the fears of food shortages in villages.
Funai, the federal agency for indigenous affairs, did not say how it would tackle hunger and land invasions during the pandemic.
Mr Baré says the government has not offered any help and that people will start to ignore the advice to stay in their villages if their food stocks run out.
"If the choice is either being infected or going hungry, most will choose the first," he warns. "Then the consequences will be dire."
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