Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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HaitiConfirms its First Coronavirus Cases

Sandra Lemaire

   WASHINGTON/PORT AU PRINCE, HAITI - The coronavirus pandemic has now
   arrived in Haiti.

   President Jovenel Moise on Thursday confirmed the country's first two
   cases of the deadly disease in a national address that was
   simultaneously streamed live on Facebook.

   "I want to let the nation know that according to test results we
   received from the national laboratory this afternoon while we were
   holding an emergency ministers' council meeting, we have confirmed the
   first two cases of coronavirus in the nation," Moise said. "The
   government is appealing for calm," he added.

   It is unclear who the confirmed cases are. This week, a state
   university professor in Limonade, in northern Haiti, experienced
   flulike symptoms after returning from a trip to the United States. He
   self-quarantined and was tested for coronavirus after alerting the
   university administrator and local public health officials. Over the
   weekend, a foreign female who had returned to Haiti after a trip to her
   native country where coronavirus has spread and had experienced flulike
   symptoms tested negative for the virus.

   New emergency measures

   A statement sent to VOA Creole lists emergency measures the government
   plans to enact to stem the spread of the virus in a nation struggling
   to regain its footing after months of anti-government protests.

   The emergency measures include an 8 p.m. curfew, school closures,
   factory closures, and a limit of 10 people for social gatherings.

   As of midnight Thursday, the country's ports, airports and borders will
   be closed.Merchandise will still be able to cross the Haiti-Dominican
   Republic border after being screened on both sides.

   The government also announced plans to sanction anyone selling
   medicine, health products or food on the black market.

   Reaction across the nation

   VOA Creole reporters in the town of Mirebalais in the south and in the
   capital, Port au Prince, said people are panicked. Businesses quickly
   shuttered.In the Delmas neighborhood of the capital, people scrambled
   to fill up on gas and stock up on food items, and then ran home.

   "People look visibly scared," the reporters said.

   Supermarkets in the affluent suburb of Petionville were crowded soon
   after the presidential announcement endedwith people buying food and
   other essential items.

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