Haiti COVID-19 Peak Set to Collide With Hurricanes

A multitude of crises may converge as Haiti struggles with food insecurity exacerbated by a drought this year, ensuing political and social unrest and COVID-19. Up to now, Haiti has yielded low cases but doctors fear social attitudes, lack of funding and a fragile healthcare system with just 100 ventilators and a few hospital beds will hamper mitigation efforts. With global modeling projecting peak infection rates in June, right about the start of hurricane season, which runs through November, concerns are naturally high. Forecasters anticipate a busier than usual hurricane season, with four of the 16 predicted storms expected to become major hurricanes due to warming Atlantic sea surface temperatures linked to climate change. Emergency shelters are being prepared for the upcoming storms, with shelters updated to allow for social distancing, but concerns linger among humanitarian agencies that COVID-19 could spread in overcrowded shelters. An additional concern is the increased number of Haitian migrants returning due to coronavirus lockdowns and economic downturns, and with little to no control at border crossings, virus screenings and information sharing are nonexistent. Thus far, 17,000 Haitians have returned and the Pan American Health Organization estimates 55,000 migrants will cross the border in the coming weeks. (Reuters)

Analysis

Meanwhile the United States continues to deport migrants and asylum seekers from its borders, including Haitians. On May 11, a deportation flight from Texas to Haiti departed with 50 passengers who were sent to hotels for quarantine upon arrival in Port-au-Prince at the Haitian government’s expense. However, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not deport five Haitians who tested positive for COVID-19 on that flight only after media reports revealed US government plans to initially deport them as well. Deporting individuals who are known to be infected with the virus violates US and international public health guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus. Since April deportations, three Haitians have tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Haiti. 

In Guatemala, 15% of its caseload comprise US deportees, where at least 117 Guatemalans deported from the US have now tested positive as of May 4. On April 13, dozens of Guatemalan deportees tested positive for COVID-19. Guatemala first suspended deportations from the US but then allowed them to resume after the US promised stringent testing. However last week, a deportee who tested negative was confirmed COVID-19 positive upon arrival in Guatemala. 

Under a new Trump Administration deportation policy, presented though as a public health policy, US Border Control Agents are now empowered to turn away any migrant without hearing claims whatsoever. The move comes through the use of an arcane public health policy that gives the CDC the power to ban entry of people who may spread infectious disease. Regardless of its presentation, the policy still presents a total violation of the right to seek asylum under US and international law.