The Government through the Ministry of Public Health and with the support of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), developed during the month of March 2020, the protocol of detection, referral, management and monitoring of Covid-19 cases on the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

According to official figures, nearly 65,000 movements of people were recorded at the Haitian-Dominican border through the 4 official crossing points and the 46 unofficial crossing points during the period from March 16 to 26, 2020. At the time of their arrival, some Haitian migrants already show symptoms of illness.

To cope with this situation, the Haitian government requested the support of IOM and PAHO to set up a strict control of these migrants after their entry into the national territory for the early detection of suspected cases of Covid- 19, and prevent the spread of the disease.

As part of the implementation of this protocol, measures have been put in place in Ouanaminthe and Belladères where a medical team has been deployed to receive and check migrants.

Spaces for quarantining suspected cases awaiting transfer to case management institutions have already been identified and all preparations to make them functional are underway (rehabilitation work, availability of materials and medical staff).

This protocol, based on the WHO provisional guidelines "Management of sick travelers at ports of entry, airports, seaports and international border crossings in the context of the Covid-19 outbreak", will be implemented also works in other important official border crossings like Malpasse and Anse-à-Pitres.

HL/ HaitiLibre