Coronavirus: Haiti shuts Dominican Republic border, suspends most international flights
Haiti, one of the few Caribbean nations with no recorded cases of the new coronavirus, announced Sunday a shutdown of its border with the Dominican Republic, a ban on travel for government officials, and a suspension of flights from Europe, Canada, the Dominican Republic, and Latin America..
“For the moment, we will keep the flights from the United States,” Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe said, adding that the government is evaluating the daily flights originating from Miami and New York into Port-au-Prince and the Fort Lauderdale flights into Cap-Haïtien.
He said Haitian officials have “agreed with the American authorities that regardless of who is boarding the airplanes, they have to screen them, they have to test them before they board the flight” to Haiti.
Haiti’s communications ministry later said U.S. flights would continue to operate per an agreement with U.S. officials and all travelers from the U.S. must have a document showing they have tested negative for coronavirus before boarding.
The consular service of the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince said nothing about an agreement and posted on its Facebook page that “the government of Haiti did not specify what proof passengers should present.”
“The Government of Haiti,” the consular service said, “will continue to conduct health screenings on arriving passengers.”
The announced flight bans and border clamp-down go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and will last at least two weeks, the government announced in a press conference. Only goods will be allowed to cross into Haiti from the Dominican Republic, where there are 11 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the flu-like virus. The personnel transporting the goods will be screened. Jouthe said Haiti is calling on Dominican officials to test personnel before allowing them to cross the border.
The government’s announcement joins that of other neighboring Caribbean and Latin American nations, which in the past week have imposed drastic measures to try to curtail the spread of COVID-19, now present in a growing number of Caribbean countries.
On Sunday, the Bahamas became the latest country in the region to confirm that the virus had reached its shores, with the positive test of a 61-year-old woman. Jamaica’s health minister also confirmed two more cases, bringing that country’s total to 10 amid a two-week shutdown of schools, a ban on public gatherings, and travel restrictions.
With Cuba registering four cases, that leaves only the Turks and Caicos Islands as Haiti’s closest neighbor with no confirmed or suspected COVID-19 cases, according to the British overseas territory’s government.
Meanwhile, the cases in the United States continue to grow. The website of the Florida Department of Health shows 39 new cases of coronavirus as of Sunday morning, bringing the statewide total to 100.
In New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday announced a third coronavirus-related death in New York state within the past week, a 79-year-old woman. New York, he said, had tested 5,272 people, finding positive results for COVID-19 infection in 729 cases.
Haiti, which is under a Do Not Travel advisory from the U.S. State Department because of kidnappings and other crimes, has so far managed to escape the flu-like virus along with a handful of other nations in the hemisphere. But it has also been slow to take any proactive measures, beyond screening arriving passengers at its airports.
Jouthe stressed that the country’s health ministry is controlling the two international airports, the seaports and the porous border with the Dominican Republic. While there are officially four border crossings, there are scores of other illegal ones, posing an even greater challenge for Haitian authorities as the number of cases in the Dominican Republic grows.
“Thank God, up until now we have not yet found one case of coronavirus in Haiti,” Jouthe said.
He acknowledged that there have been suspected cases, but after sending samples to the country’s National Laboratory, tests have come back negative. There are currently 18 people in quarantine, the government said.
Jouthe called on the population — and travelers arriving in Haiti — to not be upset should they be pulled aside for a screening or placed in isolation while tests are being run. “It’s for us to protect our country,” he said. “We are talking about the coronavirus; it’s something that is extremely dangerous and we are asking for the collaboration of all Haitians and all foreigners, too, who are living in Haiti.”
Calling on Haitians to avoid unnecessary travel abroad, Jouthe also announced a ban on all government travel.
During the press conference, he acknowledge the government’s limits, despite President Jovenel Moïse ruling by decree because there is no Parliament. While Jamaica and the Cayman Islands have banned large public gatherings, Jouthe said Haiti’s constitution does not allow the government to prohibit such assemblies. He also said a vote was taken among ministers to temporarily shut down schools, and those in favor of it lost the vote.
“We have to be united in this case,” said Jouthe, referencing an incident last week when a mob surrounded a hotel where bus passengers were being held in quarantine after a fellow passenger died. “Do not discriminate. When someone has the coronavirus, it doesn’t mean they are going to contaminate you with it.”
Jouthe did ask Haitians to put one cultural practice on hold: The greeting of each other with a kiss on each cheek.
“Stop hugging, stop kissing, stop hand-shaking,” he said.
This story was originally published March 15, 2020 at 6:01 PM.
