Ana Paula Souza, her husband and their young son are among the hundreds of families that have left the small Brazilian town of Alpercata in recent months. Alpercata is home to about 7,500 people. It is in Brazil’s southeastern state of Minas Gerais. People have left the area to come to the United States for many years. But the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly weakened the economy. Now, people are leaving almost daily. The town’s local bakery does not have enough workers. Government employees have quit their jobs. Local soccer teams are out of players. Alpercata is emptying out, said Souza, who is 23 years old. Everyone is leaving. Souza now lives in Orlando, Florida. She has a job at a bakery. Her husband is working in the building industry. Many people are leaving Alpercata and other nearby towns because of the effects of the pandemic. COVID-19 has killed more than 600,000 people in Brazil. In Latin America overall, there has been an increase in immigration to the U.S. The area has been hit hard by the virus. Record numbers of Brazilians, Haitians and Venezuelans are appearing at the southern U.S. border.