AMERICA/HAITI - Covid-19: "What will happen will be catastrophic", testimony of a missionary

Friday, 27 March 2020 coronavirus hunger poverty missionaries area crisis

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Port au Prince (Agenzia Fides) - "It is enough to see what is happening on the street, what will happen will be catastrophic, since the population lives its day-to-day life and does not have the essential tools to deal with this virus"; these are the words of Redemptorist missionary Father Renold Antoine CSsR, regional Superior who lives in Haiti, in his letter sent to Fides.
"The evil that nobody wanted has arrived in the country (Covid-19). The state has already confirmed 8 positive people. Since March 19 the President has declared a state of health emergency across the country. At the same time, some decisions have been made to stop the spread of the virus, one of which is to close churches until further notice. The priests celebrate without faithful and we broadcast live through social networks", continues Father Renold, describing the reality of the country in the face of the first contagions of coronavirus. "Unfortunately this is only the beginning of something that, as we see in all countries, is involving the whole population and unfortunately there are many deaths. It is enough to see how the life of the population unfolds on the street, every day. There is no clean water nowhere to wash your hands as required, there is no electricity in the houses and there are not even hospitals. Many people live on the streets. As Redemptorists we offer our help not only spiritual, but also materially, by placing water tanks in some spaces so that people can at least wash their hands. We also share food with the poorest", continues Father Renold.
In the end he asks for a prayer for the missionaries and for the little ones: "May the Lord have mercy on the Country and its people because we do not have a health infrastructure to face a similar crisis!"
Haiti, the among the poorest countries in America, tackles the health emergency of coronavirus with very few resources. In fact, Haiti lives in a "permanent" health emergency, because there is no de facto national health system. The real health centers are the clinics of NGOs and the Church. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 27/3/2020)