Covid-19-Haiti
/On the 19th of March, after the confirmation of the two first cases of Corona Virus (Covid-19) in Haiti, the President of the Republic declared a state of “Health Emergency throughout the national territory in order to prevent the spread of the pandemic”.
Many sectors continue to alert and educate the population about the dangers posed by this disease, encouraging them to take all precautions, wearing masks and washing hands often, and to take other preventive measures such as respecting social distance.
Unfortunately, despite all the education, there are many Haitians who refuse to believe that the virus is real.
Many of those who do accept that Corona Virus is present in Haiti are very scared.
They have blocked the construction of Corona Virus Isolation Centers in their communities, and badly damaged others.
Before the arrival of COVID 19, Haiti was already in a precarious state in many levels; economic, political, social, with very weak education and healthcare structures. The general poor health of the majority of the population, and the lack of access to medical services in many areas, mean that the virus will enter into many people who are already very sick.
In spite of all the containment measures and the general lock-down that the government announced on the 19th of March, Haiti has started to record many cases of community acquired Corona Virus.
As is the case in many of the countries in the Developing World, the majority of the population of Haiti lives hand to mouth and day by day on less than U$ 2 per day.
To earn this small amount of money, people sell everything from small bags of drinking water, to slices of fruit and bread, to phone credit, on the street.
This heroic effort to earn pennies, enables them to be able to give some bit of food to their family each day.
These vendors cannot afford to stop selling on the street. If they do not sell their produce, their family does not eat for a day.
They say they would rather be infected with the virus than die hungry.
The Haitian population has already been living on the threshold of poverty. Before the outbreak of the virus here, the UN had estimated that more than 40% of Haitians need emergency humanitarian aid.
Our sewing program at Francisville tries to offer employment opportunities, putting the technical skills of tailors to good use by producing quality reusable face masks made from donated gym robes. These distinctive face-masks can be seen on the face of vendors throughout Tabarre, and even further from our Hospital.
According to an estimate by epidemiologists, Haiti could possibly record figures of around one million infected people and nearly 20,000 deaths, because there is a high probability that the pandemic will reach its peak in the coming months. Despite this information, people in general do not respect confinement, they are not convinced of the value of staying at home, they do not respect social distancing nor the wearing of face masks.
With a 40-bed unit, the St Luke Family Hospital of the St Luke Foundation, was one of the first health institutions in Port-au-Prince to be prepared on the front-line against Covid-19. With a team of 40 health professionals, risking our lives, we do everything in our capacity to medically treat and psychologically support those infected. Despite our limited resources, we are in the process of creating extra space to increase the number of beds to 80, and even more over time as need dictates, to welcome and care for more people as they become infected with the virus.
From our Medical Director, Dr Augustin:
From March 16th to May 4th we have welcome 170 patients on St Luke Hospital Treatments Center of Acute Respiratory Infections.
67 have been Hospitalized, and among them 11 tested positive Covid 19 positive. ( 3 have died).104 patients received ambulatory care...
The current update from the Ministry of health confirms 101 people who tested positive for Covid19, and 12 deaths...
We are still counting on everyone's help and collaboration to continue to fight this pandemic. We are all in this global pandemic together...
St Luke Foundation-Haiti
May 6,2020
