This is how the world’s smallest couple have adapted their home and routine to keep them safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paulo Gabriel da Silva Barros and Katyucia Barros are listed by the Guinness World Records as the smallest couple in the world, and travelled to London to receive their certificate in 2016.

The pair, who suffers from dwarfism, is considered an at-risk group during the COVID-19 pandemic, and so they have had to adapt their way of living to keep themselves safe.

‘Paulinho Gigante’ (‘Giant Little Paulo’), as he is known, was released from his job at the Department of Education early on in the pandemic.

He isolated with Katyucia and their pet puppy for some four months at their house in the Brazilian municipality of Itapeva.

He told local media: “We went to the market once a month. When we needed to buy takeout, it was by delivery. We stopped receiving visits and we self-isolated.”

The couple also made some new changes to their house, which had already been specially adapted for their diminutive frames, the most important of which was putting a table at the front door with hand sanitizer and other hygiene products.

Paulinho, who is 90 centimetres (35.4 inches) tall, has since returned to work two days a week. He told local media: “When we get home, our clothes go straight in the washing machine.”

Katyucia, who is a centimetre (0.39 inches) taller than Paulinho, is a beautician and businesswoman. The pair met on the internet in 2006, meeting in person two years later and eventually getting hitched.

The couple is popular on social media. Paulinho, who is also an amateur chef, has 23,400 followers on Instagram where he shows off his culinary creations.

Katyucia has 52,700 followers on the same platform, where she documents how the couple negotiate life as little people.

Paulinho told local media: “One of the things we love is going out to eat, having a coffee and spending hours and hours chatting. That’s one of the things we miss the most.

“These days, we sometimes even go out, but anxiously. The worst thing about being isolated is our mental health.”

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