Cité Soleil (Haiti) (AFP)

Unoccupied beds and equipment in stock: the means are not yet lacking in Haiti to fight against the coronavirus. But many patients come to hospital too late, doubting the danger of the virus or frightened by rumors of lethal injections being given to Covid-19 patients.

"The respiratory symptoms are observed in many of our fellow citizens. It is important that they become aware that this pathology exists", insists doctor Erneau Mondésir.

Two months after the detection of the first cases in Haiti, the denial in which a majority of the population finds itself worries medical personnel.

In the underprivileged commune of Cité Soleil, Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) has opened a hospital reserved for Covid-19 patients. Two weeks after its opening, the 45-bed structure is far from overcrowded.

- Late hospitalization-

"There are a lot of people who have stayed at home for too long and who come to the hospital in the last hours, which means that management cannot be effective for these patients" deplores Dr. Mondésir, before putting on your protective equipment.

The sound of oxygen extractors and heart monitors punctuates the atmosphere in the intensive care room.

With their names inscribed in felt-tip pens on their disposable coats, nurses and doctors regularly check the condition of patients: only three of the ten intensive care beds are occupied.

"These are very serious patients who arrive in a coma or with complications already established" details Dr. Antonio Plessy in front of the box where an unconscious elderly man is installed.

"We try to do everything: high concentration oxygen, anticoagulants, antibiotics ... We do everything until the last breath" testifies this anesthesiologist.

According to the latest official assessment, published Wednesday evening, among the 2,640 people tested positive in Haiti, 50 have died. The authorities recognize that these statistics are not representative, given the low number of tests carried out.

In a country dominated by the informal economy, the containment of the population is impossible. And to impose a physical distance in the crowded markets of the capital is illusory.

Even enforcing the proper wearing of masks, mandatory in public places since May 11, is difficult. And medical personnel fear a worsening of the epidemic.

It was only because he had a motorcycle accident that fractured his leg that Jonel Cadet knew he was infected with the virus.

- Small fever -

"In the hospital, I had a small fever, it fell quickly but they put something in my nose, something in my throat and then they told me that I was infected" says the 25 year old young man who, before his transfer to the MSF hospital, was skeptical about this virus.

"I did not believe it and I even said that it was the president who spoke in the air" he laughs. "It was by coming here that I really believed in it because I saw people who were at their worst," says Jonel, who had to convince his relatives to let him receive care.

Because it is rumored that an injection given in centers dedicated to patients with Covid-19, would kill them.

"My brother thought that they were going to kill me in the hospital. I replied that it was God who decided. It must be said: no one kills people in hospitals", he insists, officially cured after more than two weeks of hospitalization.

"Put on your masks and there you go, no corona" advises Mr. Cadet, his broken leg held in place by external screws. From now on, he impatiently awaits his return to a "normal" hospital.

© 2020 AFP