President Jovenel Moise
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti--As Haiti recorded its first two cases of the coronavirus COVID-19 on Thursday, the government declared a state of emergency, closing the country’s airports to commercial flights and imposing a nine-hour curfew.
Announcing the state of emergency late Thursday, President Jovenel Moïse said ports, airports and borders would be closed to people but would remain open to accept goods.
In an effort to prevent COVID-19 from reaching Haiti, the government had previously suspended flights from Europe, Latin America and Canada and imposed restrictions on the border with the neighbouring Dominican Republic where there have been 202 cases recorded so far.
With the virus now confirmed here, several measures have been implemented in addition to the month-long suspension of commercial flights.
Moïse said schools, universities, places of worship and industrial parks would also be closed, and an 8:00pm to 5:00am curfew would take effect from Friday night, March 20.
No details of the gender, age, nationality or travel history of the two people who tested positive for COVID-19 have been provided.
Education Minister Pierre Josue Agenor Cadet would only say on local radio that the two had been abroad and had been placed under quarantine after being suspected of having the virus.
COVID-19 has been detected throughout the Caribbean. There are cases in Aruba, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, the Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, St. Barts, St. Lucia, French St. Martin, Dutch St. Maarten, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. ~ Caribbean360 ~
