Haiti: President promises medical equipment to arrive in early May

Haitian President Jovenel Moïse said Monday that his government's order for medical equipment at the end of March to deal with the epidemic of new coronavirus will be dispatched to the country by mid-May. "If there are no major difficulties, this equipment will arrive between May 1 and May 15," said Jovenel Moïse in an address broadcast live on State television on Monday.

Hospital beds, respirators, gowns, masks or gloves: the Haitian health authorities have ordered from China more than 30 containers of material in order to make up for the lack, if not the absence, of any equipment in the country's health centers . “The government had ordered equipment for two billion gourdes (19.2 million US dollars) . Transport costs the Haitian state 900 million gourdes (8.6 million dollars) . If the government had made the decision to have it delivered by boat, it would not have cost so much money but it would have been delivered at the end of June, " said the head of state.

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With a population of 11.2 million, Haiti is still in the very early stages of the Covid-19 epidemic, with a total of 74 officially diagnosed cases and 6 deaths recorded, according to the latest report from the health authorities. published Saturday. The epidemic could cause the death of more than 20,000 people, according to the worst scenario established by the government's scientific cell. Staying homebound is impossible for the vast majority of Haitians who depend daily on the informal economy to survive.

Announced last month, state financial aid will soon be distributed, also assured Jovenel Moïse in his speech Monday. The 1.5 million families identified as the most vulnerable in the country should receive the amount of 3,000 gourdes per household, the equivalent of only 28 US dollars.

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