Coronavirus: a second death in Haiti

Text by: Stefanie Schüler Follow

The Haitian Ministry of Public Health announced this Thursday the death of a second person suffering from Covid-19. According to the press release, it was a 69-year-old woman with blood pressure. Authorities now count 30 confirmed patients. A figure largely underestimated, recognizes the ministry, due to the absence of sufficient screening tests. Details with Frantz Duval, editor-in-chief of the Haitian newspaper Le Nouvelliste.

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There are now 30 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Haiti. Two of them died. None of the 28 other patients has yet been declared cured. Many of these people have no visible symptoms, although they test positive for coronavirus. This disturbs the population, which has difficulty understanding that a Covid-19 patient is not necessarily bedridden. Some of these asymptomatic patients said on the radio that they did not understand why they were kept in the hospital. While the treatment and quarantine protocols were not honed when the pandemic arrived in Haiti.

RFI : Many Haitians still find it difficult to believe the veracity of the threat hanging over them.

Frantz Duval: Absolutely. Besides, the editorial of Le Nouvelliste today refers to the miracle of Easter to say to people: you have to believe without seeing and above all believe without starting to suffer yourself. In Haiti, many people doubt. Social networks don't help. We are looking for all kinds of arguments to explain that the disease does not exist, that people are not going to die and that the government invented the disease. But it should also be stressed that the government's communication, like the patient care protocol, is not ready. The government does not communicate, does not educate enough.

Le Nouvelliste also publishes in an article this morning an article which tells that the disease is only very little present in the conversations of the inhabitants of province. People continue to go about their business as usual. You really have to come across someone who listens to the radios in Port-au-Prince and who is trying to find information on the internet in order to be able to observe precautions. And even when faced with such a knowledgeable person, people don't believe it.

The article you cite tells of the journey of a mother who leaves Port-au-Prince with her children to take refuge in the Covid-19 in the countryside. Is it a unique case or a trend that you see more generally?

Those who can, leave the city. The residents of the capital are trying to flee Port-au-Prince, an overcrowded city, to settle in the provinces, hoping to find some fresh air and more space there, also hoping to find a little more. of tranquility. Because Port-au-Prince is affected by the Covid-19 but still still has insecurity problems. The confinement, the shutdown of many companies as well as the closure of schools therefore arouse a desire to go and look elsewhere. Even if sometimes we say that when we get sick, it is better to be sick in Port-au-Prince than in the provinces (due to the weakness of the health and medical system in rural areas in Haiti, note).

You were talking about the closure of schools: for Haitian pupils and students this suspension of lessons is particularly dramatic. Because they have already lost three months, between September and December 2019, due to the “country lock” protest movement. In this Thursday's edition of Le Nouvelliste , you return to an article on the challenges posed by distance education in Haiti.

Neither Covid-19 nor containment was expected. The Haitian Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training is trying to launch digital platforms so that training can continue remotely. But this will collides with the Haitian reality. First, there is the problem of electricity: electricity is scarce, in Port-au-Prince and throughout the rest of the country. Then there is the problem of equipment. A large majority of Haitian pupils and students do not have a computer, a tablet or a smartphone to be able to access content even if this content existed. And finally there is the problem of the content itself: Haiti was not prepared to launch distance learning. Today, the entire school and university system should be put online. We are overwhelmed, even if the Ministry of Education wants to give the impression that something is taking place.

In Haiti, the school has always been a school with several speeds. The most upscale schools were already in the habit of transmitting homework to students. Often it was a coach, a home teacher who accompanied the student at home. But today, with the fear of Covid-19, families no longer accept people who come from outside. The posh families barricaded themselves, hoping that the pandemic would not return home.

For the other pupils and students, the overwhelming majority, this 2019-2020 school year will be a lost year. The former minister, Nesmy Manigat, even called for no repetitions. Because for disadvantaged parents, it would be a double penalty: they would have to pay entirely for the same school year (more than 80% of Haitian schools are private establishments, editor's note). The idea put forward by the former minister is to rearrange the school calendar and programs for the year 2020-2021 in order to allow pupils and students to catch up during a denser school year while advancing in the next class.

Meanwhile, Haitian private sector companies are contributing to support the fight against the pandemic.

Haiti cannot afford to fight. The country has obtained pledges to help it fight the Covid-19. But these promises will take time to materialize. Meanwhile, it is the Haitian private companies that contribute to try to block the coronavirus. The telephone company donates money and respirators to hospitals. Car salespeople contribute to donate money to the coalition that will fight the Covid-19. Banks also bring together their biggest customers to make donations. This movement within the Haitian private sector is continuing: everyone contributes in kind or in cash to strengthen the commission which is currently training medical personnel and setting up reception centers for the sick Covid-19 potential in Haiti.

As everywhere in the world, the ceremonies of this Easter weekend will also be disrupted in Haiti.

Churches have been closed in Haiti for several Sundays, respecting the authorities' watchword. All the denominations had published press notes announcing that their doors would be closed, that the ceremonies were not going to be held, that the funeral was only going to be organized in a very small committee, with no more than ten people authorized. It will be the same for Holy Week. Alongside the Haitian Ministry of the Interior, the churches said yesterday that they would remain closed during the Easter period.

The coronavirus also blocks the way for rara bands.

It is a great festive period for the provincial towns, where each voodoo temple has its band of rara. The bands of rara are made up of people who, playing music, set off on foot on a route of several hundred kilometers. This takes place in the period from Ash Wednesday, after Mardi Gras, to Easter Sunday. Like every year, this week should have been the grand finale for what is both a pagan festival and a religious pilgrimage. But none of this will happen. The government has prohibited rara bands from marching which disrupts their traditions. In some areas, rara bands obey the instructions given by the authorities. On social networks, however, there are images of rara bands that parade anyway. Their members emphasize the religious part of this tradition which, according to them, must be respected at the risk of attracting the anger of the loas, the voodoo deities.

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