PORT-AU-PRINCE – Cholera cases are rising in Haiti, according to Health Ministry figures yesterday, fueling fears of a new disaster in a country already deep in a humanitarian and security crisis.
As of Monday, 606 suspected cases and 66 confirmed cases had been identified, according to a ministry report.
That constitutes an increase of 222 new suspected cases between October 13 and 17. In addition, 22 deaths were recorded in medical facilities.
Suspected cases have also been recorded in new regions of the impoverished Caribbean country, in particular in the central region.
One of the epicentres of the disease is the civilian prison in Port-au-Prince, with 271 suspected cases, 12 confirmed, and 14 people dead, the ministry report said.
The new assessment came a day after a meeting at the United Nations where the Security Council discussed deploying a special international force to Haiti to deal with the humanitarian and security crisis.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the situation as “absolutely nightmarish”, with criminal gangs blockading the country’s main oil terminal.
Speaking at the United Nations, Haitian Foreign Minister Jean Victor Geneus said he had “the delicate mission of bringing before the Security Council the cry of distress of an entire suffering people and of saying loudly and intelligibly that the Haitians don’t live, they survive”.
While the number of cholera cases continues to rise, protests have resumed in Port-au-Prince and around the country to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
A demonstration of several hundred people was dispersed on Monday with tear gas not far from the US embassy.
Haiti suffered a cholera epidemic between 2010 and 2019 that was accidentally introduced by UN peacekeeping troops and killed more than 10,000 people. – AFP, October 19, 2022
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