How to fight against the circulation of the coronavirus when we share 700 km of borders with a country considered as the future “epidemiological bomb”, namely Brazil? This is the challenge facing Guyana today. Second largest French region, just behind New Aquitaine, it is also the least dense. And for good reason: 97% of its territory is made up of Amazon rainforest.
At first, this specificity favored the overseas territory in the fight against the Covid-19 epidemic. Guyana has recorded only one death since the start of the epidemic. Only twelve patients are hospitalized on May 21, and none of them is in intensive care.
Over 1,000 dead in 24 hours in Brazil
But 19 positive cases were detected in 24 hours on May 20, the highest figure ever. Guyana is now afraid to "pay" for its 1,200 km of borders. To the west, Suriname. To the south and east, Brazil. As much as the situation seems under control in Suriname, with only one death officially recorded since the start of the health crisis, the epidemic is booming in Brazil. 1,188 deaths were recorded there in 24 hours Thursday, a record. But President Jair Bolsonaro refuses to confine the country or take drastic health measures.
"At first, the threat seemed to us quite distant because the very affected Brazilian cities were far from the border, but the pandemic is generalizing and it is now hitting the country hard, up to Belem and Macapá (two large cities located north of Brazil). There is a very big concern ”, tells the Parisian senator from Guyana Georges Patient, present on the spot.
The situation is particularly critical in the border town of Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock, which has just over 4,000 inhabitants and is a usual crossing point between the two countries. To the point that Public Health France devotes a daily epidemiological assessment to it since May 20.
The town is also still confined while the rest of the territory began its deconfinement on May 11, like the metropolis. And a screening campaign was launched there on May 18. This Thursday, four positive cases were identified in 24 hours in Saint-Georges, against nine the day before. This brings the total to 88 patients since the start of the epidemic, out of a total of 249 across the country.
# COVID19 #CelluleDeCrise
ℹ📝 CovidInfo from May 21.
➡️ 12 new positive cases.
📍4 Saint-Georges
📍2 Macouria
📍1 Camopi
📍5 Kourou
Save lives #RestezPrudents
Barrier gestures are still relevant
😷 🙌 🧼💦❌🤝 pic.twitter.com/lyfwDj4Cvr
Authorities fear border crossings that could help spread the virus on French soil. On the one hand, "there are many Brazilians who come to Guyana because they are deprived of care in Brazil," says Senator Georges Patient. On the other hand, many Franco-Brazilians living and working in Guyana had left for Brazil at the start of the confinement started on March 17 in France. As their nationality allows, many of them now plan to return to live and work in Guyana, with the risk of "bringing" the virus there.
Screening and fortnight
“When France set up confinement, many families left for Brazil, in the Amapá region (bordering Guyana, editor's note). They are trying to return since the confinement has been lifted in Guyana and the Amapá is now very affected, ”confirms to Parisian Mirdad Kazanji, director of the Institut Pasteur in Cayenne. "They are aware of the risks, they pass through the crossing points to be screened, and they must respect a fortnight," he adds.
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Most of the positive cases detected in Saint-Georges come from Oiapoque, the Brazilian commune located just across the Oyapock river, which marks the border.
The army has already been requisitioned in support of the border police, as part of Operation Resilience. “This mission made it possible to hold the border continuously. […] Interception means arrived in reinforcement make it possible to hold the river between Saint-Georges and Oiapoque ”and the passages are“ strictly regulated and limited ”, assured the Prime Minister, Edouard Philippe, with the National assembly Wednesday.
Supply of equipment to Brazilian hospitals
“The prefecture did the maximum it could do, with the police, gendarmerie, army, foreign legion, etc. security forces. But you are never safe, because many families live on both banks with school children on one side and it is very difficult for them to accept that they can no longer make the round trip ” , points out Dr. Mirdad Kazanji. The fear resides above all in the illegal crossings of the border. "We have always known that there are many, by canoe or on foot through the forest," notes Georges Patient.
Protecting the border on the French side as much as possible may not be enough if the situation continues to worsen in Brazil. To protect against this, the regional health agency of Guyana provides medical equipment to the Oiapoque hospital, including masks and protective gloves.
# COVID19
🌁Cross-border solidarity with Oiapoque continues.
👉 Donation from @ ars_guyane to Oiapoque hospital.
😷 FFP2 masks, surgical masks, gloves and
caps ... 👨⚕️👩⚕️Protect our neighbors in Brazil, health professionals. # AllMobilized pic.twitter.com/awNyO3XIer
And Senator Georges Patient concludes: "We must absolutely ask ourselves the question of health cooperation with Brazilian border cities. It will be difficult with Bolsonaro, but it is essential. "