Behind the Covid Numbers in Haiti/ Derrière les chiffres de Covid-19 en Haïti - Par Jane Regan (article en anglais parfaitement documenté)

Publié par ane Regan sur 12 Juin 2020, 15:52pm

Catégories : #AYITI ROSE RAKET, #AYITI EXTREME DROITE, #AYITI ECONOMIE, #PEUPLE sans mémoire..., #DUVALIER, #COVID-19

"The PHTK [ruling party] virus is more dangerous than Corona." (Photo by Réginald Junior Louissaint/K2D)

The official Covid-19 death toll in Haiti stood at only 54 as of June 7, with 3,538 confirmed cases. But the numbers don't tell the story.

The virus is now in all 10 departments, and medical authorities—organizations like the World Health Organization and Doctors Without Borders—warn that the country's few Covid-ready hospitals and triage centers may soon be overwhelmed. Police officers and doctors have died. Children have died. The disease has reached the country's overcrowded prisons.

Many thousands of Haitians have likely already had Covid. In the village of Cayes-Jacmel, nearly every family has had someone ill with the symptoms. In the capital, 90 percent of those tested are Covid-positive.

But lack of, and fear of, testing mean that thousands go undiagnosed and that hundreds, or perhaps even more, have died—untested and uncounted—due to a combination of factors that are as much political and economic as they are related to the weak public health system.

But as important? Distrust in the discredited government.

Disbelief and Distrust

One recent afternoon, Solange Pétion, 58, was in her usual spot next to a lottery stand not far from the National Palace, trying to sell hot coffee, hot chocolate, and bread. Even though the government asked people to stay home and threatened those without masks with a fine of $300—about half a year's income for more than half the population—most are maskless.

"If that sickness was really in Haiti, it would have already killed many people," she said.

Not far away, Charles, who would not reveal his last name, was trying to sell new and used books to students milling about, even though the government shuttered all schools and universities.

"Yes, I've heard it's in other countries, but here in Haiti, everybody lies. I don't trust the government," he said.

And so no wonder that protestors have scrawled graffiti like "Where is the Corona money?" on walls, mimicking the slogan from the past two years' anti-government anti-corruption protests: "Where is the Petrocaribe money?"

People like Charles believe rumors that say Covid-19 is a fiction invented by President Jovenel Moïse—repeatedly and credibly accused of corruption and now ruling by decree since January because elections for lawmakers were not held—so that he and his cronies can attract financial aid from abroad. They also do not trust international humanitarian actors, whose repeated promises in the wake of the 2010 earthquake did not deliver the promised Haiti "built back better."

And in any case, the vast majority of Haitians—trying to eke out a living as farmers or working in the informal sector—cannot afford to stay at home or to follow the other impossible rules laid out in a May 21 presidential decree, like the daily disinfection of tap-taps, the pick-ups used for mass transit.

Thus, pandemic or not, almost all of the country's 11 million people are out and about. And so, across the country, people are sick and dying of what they call the "epidemi lafyèv" (fever epidemic).

"Some have all symptoms, but most have a very mild disease," explained Jean William (Bill) Pape, M.D., executive director of the GHESKIO Centers, on June 2.

A renowned public health doctor and Weill Cornell Medical College professor, Pape has worked for years on HIV-AIDS and TB in Haiti and today co-heads the commission overseeing Haiti's COVID fight, the Multisectoral Pandemic Management Commission COVID-19, with the Minister of Health.

"This is indeed COVID 19!" Pape noted, although most people are not tested, "When they have th

ne recent afternoon, Solange Pétion, 58, was in her usual spot next to a lottery stand not far from the National Palace, trying to sell hot coffee, hot chocolate, and bread. Even though the government asked people to stay home and threatened those without masks with a fine of $300—about half a year's income for more than half the population—most are maskless.

"If that sickness was really in Haiti, it would have already killed many people," she said.

Not far away, Charles, who would not reveal his last name, was trying to sell new and used books to students milling about, even though the government shuttered all schools and universities.

"Yes, I've heard it's in other countries, but here in Haiti, everybody lies. I don't trust the government," he said.

"Some have all symptoms, but most have a very mild disease," explained Jean William (Bill) Pape, M.D., executive director of the GHESKIO Centers, on June 2.

"This is indeed COVID 19!" Pape noted, although most people are not tested, "When they have the mild form, they think that it is a cold. As they need to work daily and are used to hardship, so they resume their activity. This way they are likely to transmit the virus."

Because they fear being stigmatized or forced to quarantine, scores are not seeking medical assistance. In some communities, people have attacked or ostracized those who are sick.

Another problem are the religious leaders—especially Evangelical preachers—who have said the disease does not exist and that "if we rely on Jesus Christ,we have nothing to worry about," Pape said, adding: "In fact today, one of those preachers, unfortunately, died."

SUITE dans le lien