PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) Ever since the pandemic began, Haiti had perplexed experts with seemingly low infection and death rates from COVID-19 despite its rickety public health system, a total lack of vaccines and a widespread disdain for safety measures like masks and distancing.
Haiti fights large COVID-19 spike as it awaits vaccines
EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO, Associated Press
June 9, 2021
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1of6A hospital emplyee wearing protective gear as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus, transports oxygen tanks, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, June 5, 2021. Haiti defied predictions and perplexed health officials by avoiding a COVID-19 crisis for more than a year, but the country of more than 11 million people that has not received a single vaccine is now battling a spike in cases and deaths.Joseph Odelyn/APShow MoreShow Less
2of6Customers wearing protective face masks as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus, talk with a vendor in a street market in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Saturday, June 5, 2021. Haiti defied predictions and perplexed health officials by avoiding a COVID-19 crisis for more than a year, but the country of more than 11 million people that has not received a single vaccine i
Coronavirus cases spike in Haiti with vaccines yet to be delivered June 9, 2021, 5:15 pm
A hospital emplyee wearing protective gear as a precaution against the spread of the new coronavirus, transports oxygen tanks, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti (Joseph Odelyn/AP)
Haiti is trying to deal with a rise in coronavirus infections at a time when vaccinations have not yet arrived in the country.
The few hospitals treating Covid cases have been so swamped in recent days that they report turning away patients, while plans to open another hospital to treat the infected have been delayed.
Official figures remain relatively low for a nation of more than 11 million people: Just 2,271 cases and 62 deaths have been recorded over the past month in government data collected by Johns Hopkins University.