Reading from a statement, one of the prisoners said they were not being provided with medicine and complained about rancid food. He threatened to direct gang members outside to set buses on fire and execute prison guards as detainees standing behind him mimicked a decapitation.

“This virus that is circulating around the world is going to kill many brothers in prison,” he said. “We’re prepared to knock down these prisons.”

A state official said in a statement that the men in the video had been identified, and that the authorities had confiscated the cellphone used to make the video.

To prevent transmission of the virus, officials in Brazil have suspended visits from relatives and lawyers, and sought to step up hygiene measures at federal and state prisons.

While Brazilian judges have approved thousands of early release petitions, top Justice Ministry officials have said it would be a mistake to release prisoners en masse, arguing that would create risks to public safety.

Prisoner advocates say it is more risky for the inmates to remain in prisons.

Pastoral Carcerária Nacional, a Christian organization that supports prisoners and their families, said many relatives of the incarcerated have been barred from providing them with food and hygiene items.

“Prisoners get the bulk of material support from what their families can bring, because the food they are given inside is terrible and scarce,” said Sister Petra Silvia Pfaller, the group’s coordinator. “Even before the pandemic they were already going hungry.”