They are nearly a hundred Haitians (men, women and children) to return voluntarily every day from the Dominican Republic by the border of Ouanaminthe (North-East), because of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Dominican territory and the loss of their jobs and the lack of work due to the sanitary restriction measures in the neighboring nation.

"There are a lot of people coming back through the border during this pandemic, we can't let them in like that, we are forced to do surveillance, that is to say identify suspected cases linked to Covid-19," Explains Dr Kensly Flécher, coordinator of the border control post and the border quarantine center of Ouanaminthe.

"[...] We take their temperature, if after two spaced measurements, the temperature remains high, we have an ambulance which transports them to the quarantine center" underlined Michelot Difficile, Coordinator of the Sub-Office of the International Organization for Migrations (OIM) in Ouanaminthe,

"During quarantine, every day, we check vital signs, we assess them, a team of psychologists provides them with psychological support, we follow their progress to see if there are any among them who present the signs and symptoms of Coronavirus," said Dr Flécher adding "Once the results of the screening tests are known, people who test positive are sent to an isolation center while those who test negative are sent home, after counseling sessions , awareness and education."

Due to their vulnerability to Covid-19 and the fact that they had not had the chance to visit a hospital or a health center during this period of confinement in the Dominican Republic, pregnant women who arrive at the border receive special treatment, indicated Dr. Flécher "[...] we check if there are among them who need to go to the hospital and if necessary we send them to the hospital [...] For those who present the criteria for going into quarantine, we are continuing with a follow-up of these people."

In addition to Ouanaminthe, this epidemiological surveillance system to prevent the spread in the country of Covid-19 is also in place in the other three official border points, namely Belladère (Center), Malpasse (West) and Anse-à-Pitres (South-East).

Recall that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), implemented this project to allow a coordinated response to save lives in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic, in particular at the Haitian-Dominican border, thanks to integrated support for health, protection and socio-economic support. This coordinated response involves the participation, under the coordination of the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP), of several actors including the IOM, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Development Centers and of health…

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-31312-haiti-dr-almost-100-000-haitians-return-to-the-country-in-6-months.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-31249-haiti-news-zapping.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-31118-haiti-dr-more-than-17-000-haitians-voluntarily-returned-to-the-country-in-2-weeks.html

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30859-haiti-ouanaminthe-assisted-voluntary-return-plan-for-haitians-in-dr.html

HL/ HaitiLibre