Haiti receives more deportees from U.S. despite coronavirus fears

Haitian migrants ride on a bus after arriving on a deportation flight from the
United States in Port-au-Prince, Haiti  on April 23, 2020 / Reuters Photo      

Haiti received a deportation flight on Thursday from the United States of 129 Haitians, including minors, days after three deportees who arrived on the previous flight tested positive for the new coronavirus.

A growing trend of contagion among deportees from the United States to Latin America has fostered criticism that it is exporting the virus to poorer countries that have fewer confirmed cases and would be devastated by a major outbreak.

Haiti Foreign Ministry senior official Israel Jacky Cantave told Reuters Haiti had asked for all deportees to be tested but the U.S. government had only agreed to test those with symptoms - a problem given many carriers are asymptomatic.

The poorest country in the Americas, which has limited testing capacity is placing all deportees in a quarantine facility for two weeks upon arrival.

But security at such facilities has proven to be weak, with one of the three deportees from a flight two weeks ago to have tested positive for the virus last weekend having escaped.

Critics of the Haitian government blame it for not standing up to the administration of President Donald Trump which has backed President Jovenel Moise throughout the violent protests that have rocked his term in office.

Haitian Prime Minister Joseph Jouthe has said repeatedly the deportees have the right to come home although his government has issued requirements for other Haitians to return so onerous they would be hard to fulfill.

According to the new rules, made public this week, they must present proof of a negative coronavirus test and pay to be quarantined for 14 days at one of two Port-au-Prince hotels designated by the government.

The new virus has spread slowly in Haiti, which has confirmed 72 cases and 5 deaths so far. But the U.S. deportations and return of thousands of Haitian workers from the Dominican Republic, which is one of the worst affected countries in the region, could soon change that.

Doctors warn a major outbreak would be devastating as the healthcare system is already collapsing - Haiti has just 100 ventilators for 11 million residents. The supply of water and sanitation infrastructure is poor and the country is densely populated.

Moreover, with two-thirds of Haitians living under the poverty level, most cannot afford to self isolate and continue to go about their daily lives. Vendors in the capital protested on Thursday against a decision by authorities to limit market days to three times a week.

Andre Paultre  Reuters

Coronavirus: les enterrements en fosses communes se multiplient à New York

New York enterre ses victimes dans des fosses communes

Située au nord-est du Bronx, quartier populaire au nord de Manhattan, Hart Island est utilisée comme fosse commune de New York depuis 1869. Plus d'un million de personnes non identifiées, non réclamées ou pour qui des proches n'ont pu payer des funérailles y sont déjà enterrées. «Nous allons continuer à utiliser l'île à cette fin durant la crise et il est probable que des gens morts des suites du Covid-19 qui relèvent de l'un de ces cas seront enterrés là dans les jours à venir», a indiqué un porte-parole de la ville de New York.

Des images filmées cette semaine par drone pour le New York Post montrent des dizaines de cercueils sommaires en train d'être enterrés sur Hart Island.

Hart Island, île des pleurs...

Cité par plusieurs médias, un porte-parole des services pénitentiaires de la ville, qui gèrent le lieu, a indiqué qu'environ 24 personnes étaient enterrées chaque jour actuellement, contre 25 en moyenne par semaine avant la pandémie. Vendredi, le maire de New York a reconnu de manière implicite que des corps de personnes décédés des suites du coronavirus étaient enterrés à Hart Island.

L'État de New York reste le plus touché par la pandémie aux États-Unis, avec 777 nouveaux décès lors des dernières 24 heures et 7.844 morts au total depuis l'arrivée du coronavirus dans la région.

Ce sont ordinairement des détenus, extraits de la célèbre prison de Rikers Island toute proche, qui assurent les enterrements. Mais compte tenu des risques de contamination et des inquiétudes quant à la propagation du virus en détention, la tâche est actuellement assurée par des employés d'un sous-traitant, a indiqué un porte-parole de la ville de New York.

Les services pénitentiaires ont ouvert un registre qui recense toutes les personnes enterrées sur l'île depuis 1977 et dont l'identité est connue. La gestion de l'île a été régulièrement critiquée, les services pénitentiaires étant accusés de ne pas entretenir correctement le site. Début 2018, plusieurs médias locaux avaient montré des images d'ossements dispersés sur les rivages de l'île, provenant de squelettes découverts par l'érosion. Le conseil municipal a voté, fin 2019, le transfert de la gestion de Hart Island au service des parcs et jardins de la ville, prévu en 2021. Le changement de gestionnaire vise aussi à rendre le site plus accessible pour les proches de personnes enterrées sur l'île.

Hart Island, l'île des pleurs

Sources:CBS,New York Post , Figaro

Covid-19 : l'OMS mobilise le monde, sans les États-Unis, pour un accès universel aux vaccins

De nombreux pays se sont engagés vendredi à se mobiliser aux côtés de l'Organisation mondiale de la santé pour accélérer la production de vaccins, traitements et tests de diagnostic contre le nouveau coronavirus et en assurer un accès équitable. Ni les États-Unis ni la Chine ne se sont associés à cette mobilisation.

L'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) a lancé vendredi 24 avril, avec l'appui des dirigeants de nombreux pays, une initiative visant à accélérer le développement de tests, de traitements et de vaccins pour lutter contre le nouveau coronavirus et à donner un accès généralisé à ces produits.

Le président français Emmanuel Macron, la présidente de la Commission européenne Ursula von der Leyen ou encore le secrétaire général des Nations unies Antonio Guterres ont notamment participé à cette visioconférence marquée par l'absence des États-Unis et de la Chine.

Le président américain Donald Trump a suspendu la semaine dernière la contribution américaine au budget de l'OMS en accusant l'agence onusienne d'avoir "failli à ses devoirs essentiels" dans la lutte contre l'épidémie de coronavirus, suscitant un concert de désapprobation à l'échelle internationale.

L'OMS mobilise le monde, sans les États-Unis....

Pour une répartition équitable

"Nous sommes confrontés à une menace commune que nous ne pourrons vaincre que par une approche commune", a plaidé le directeur général de l'OMS, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Il a également plaidé pour une répartition équitable à travers le monde des futurs tests, traitements du Covid-19 et vaccins contre ce virus. "L'expérience nous a appris que même lorsque les outils étaient disponibles, ils n'étaient pas accessibles équitablement pour tout le monde. Nous ne pouvons pas laisser ça arriver".

Un message également relayé par le secrétaire général de l'ONU Antonio Guterres, qui a estimé indispensable que l'accès à des outils de lutte contre le Covid-19 sûrs et efficaces soit équitable plutôt que de voir réserver "un vaccin ou des traitements pour un pays, une région, ou seulement la moitié du monde".

L'Afrique vulnérable

Le président sud-africain Cyril Ramaphosa, qui assure actuellement la présidence tournante de l'Union africaine, a en effet souligné que le continent africain était "extrêmement vulnérable face aux ravages de ce virus et avait besoin d'aide" pour faire face à sa progression.

L'Union européenne s'est déclarée prête à participer à cet effort, notamment via la conférence des donateurs qu'elle organise le 4 mai prochain en lien avec l'OMS pour financer la recherche contre ce nouveau coronavirus. L'objectif de cette réunion sera de lever 7,5 milliards d'euros, a précisé la présidente de l'exécutif européen Ursula von der Leyen, en soulignant qu'il ne s'agissait que d'"un premier pas".

Quant au président français Emmanuel Macron, il a également souligné la nécessité de présenter un front international uni face à cette crise sanitaire mondiale. "Nous allons maintenant continuer à mobiliser tous les pays du G7, du G20, pour qu'ils se mettent derrière cette initiative. J'espère qu'on arrivera à réconcilier autour de cette initiative commune et la Chine et les États-Unis d'Amérique", a-t-il souligné.

Malgré leur absence, les États-Unis ont assuré que leur détermination à "rester à la tête des initiatives internationales en matière de santé" ne faisait "aucun doute". "La suspension du financement américain de l'OMS ne limite ni ne redéfinit notre implication en faveur d'un engagement international fort et efficace", a déclaré un porte-parole de la délégation américaine à Genève.

Plus de 2,7 millions de personnes ont déjà été contaminées par le nouveau coronavirus à travers le monde et près de 190 000 décès sont imputés au Covid-19, selon un décompte effectué par Reuters.

Avec Reuters

Farewell to Dr. Ronald VERRIER

Dr. Ronal Verrier

On April 8, 2020, the Promotion Fritz G. Sam has been shaken to its core when the dreadful news came about Dr. Ronald Verrier admitted to ICU in critical conditions due to COVID-19.  Multiple groups gathered here and there to pray....expecting another miracle as it happened 6 years ago for this beloved colleague who became very sick while vacationing in the Bahamas.

Valedictorian of his class, Dr. Verrier had a brilliant mind to pair with his golden heart. He built a reputation for being passionate about medicine and excelled in his area of expertise: he was a trauma critical surgeon who practiced first in Cornell University Hospital in Manhattan after emigrating from Haiti over 20 years ago, then in St Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx.  There he was a core faculty and contributed to the education of hundreds of residents.  Many referred to him as the doctor with “gifted hands “.  He was so bright!  So talented!  And whoever got close to him realized quickly that surgery was just a stepping stone to reach out to others.  He was always present where needed as a friend, counselor, and companion.  A close friend who knew Ronald quite well described him as being “ a network by himself!”  He was so resourceful in helping anyone in the community.  An amazing storyteller, the center of attention in any gathering, he grew to become larger than life, which explained why everyone was stunned when the news came on the evening of this April 8, 2020, that Ronald had taken his last breath somewhere in a hospital in New York.

What terrible news that left his colleagues numb!  What a loss for his native country, Haiti!  What a void now in the scientific world!  We can’t even fathom what this means for his beloved wife and his children and all his relatives!  Ronald for so many was seen as a rock, a strong pillar, and a guiding voice.



Dr. Ronald Verrier will be sorely missed by his family and relatives, his Samist brothers and sisters - dear colleagues for the past 33 years since their graduation from the Hôpital de l’ Université d’Etat d’Haiti (HUEH). The medical community has lost a brilliant mind and humankind a golden heart.  

May his soul Rest In Peace.

Reposes en Paix Ronald. MC

Joël Hilaire, MD/Pastor/Poet &Author

Promotion Fritz G. Sam



Source: AMHE

Boris Johnson n'est pas encore «tiré d'affaire»

Atteint par le nouveau coronavirus, le chef de l'Exécutif britannique est sorti de l'unité des soins intensifs hier jeudi. Mais il doit rester sous étroite surveillance, confie son père.

Boris Johnson photographié avant son infection par le Covid-19

Le Premier ministre britannique Boris Johnson n'est pas encore «tiré d'affaire» et doit «prendre le temps» de se reposer pour se remettre de son infection au Covid-19, a insisté vendredi son père, Stanley Johnson, sur la BBC.

Le dirigeant conservateur de 55 ans est sorti jeudi soir des soins intensifs où il se trouvait depuis lundi. Il a été transféré vers un autre service de l'hôpital londonien de St Thomas et placé «sous surveillance étroite pendant la phase initiale de sa guérison», selon son porte-parole.

«Il doit se reposer. Tel que je le comprends, il a été transféré des soins intensifs vers une unité de récupération, mais je ne pense pas qu'on puisse dire qu'il soit tiré d'affaire», a indiqué son père, un ancien fonctionnaire européen.

Prendre le temps

«Il doit prendre le temps. Je ne peux pas croire que vous vous en sortiez et retourniez directement à Downing Street et repreniez les rênes sans une période de réajustement», a-t-il ajouté.

Diagnostiqué positif au Covid-19 fin mars, Boris Johnson est à ce jour le seul chef de gouvernement d'une grande puissance à avoir été contaminé par le virus, qui a fait près de 8000 morts au Royaume-Uni, un des pays européens les plus durement touchés.

Source: ats

Bernie Sanders drops out of 2020 presidential race

Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary race

Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the Democratic primary race Wednesday, paving the way for Joe Biden to be officially declared the party’s nominee.

Addressing supporters in a livesteam, the self-described Democratic socialist, 78, said the decision to suspend his presidential campaign was “difficult and painful” but he understood there was no path forward.

Still, he said, he will stay on the ballot in the remaining primary states to push his ideological agenda at the Democratic National Convention.

The announcement comes after the former vice president trounced the Vermont independent in three primaries.

It also comes as the nation grapples with the coronavirus pandemic and growing calls for primaries to be postponed to avoid big social gatherings, especially with no clear path to victory left for Sanders.

Biden defeated Sanders in Florida, Illinois and Arizona last month and holds a large delegate lead, 1,217 to Sanders’ 914.

A candidate needs to gather 1,991 delegates to be nominated at July’s Democratic National Convention.

The senator’s campaign looked all but finished when he suffered a heart attack on the campaign trail in October.

But Sanders stayed in the race and became the front-runner after a series of razor-thin victories in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.

However, Sanders lost his large lead when the Democratic Party rapidly coalesced against the self-described Democratic socialist outsider in early March to boost Biden’s ailing campaign.

Biden, 77, made a pitch to Sanders’ supporters during a livestreamed speech last month after thumping the Vermont senator in the last round of primaries, forecasting the fate of his upstart campaign.

“Sen. Sanders and I may disagree on tactics, but we share a common vision for the need to provide affordable health care for all Americans, reduce income inequality that has risen so drastically, to tackling the existential threat of our time, climate change,” he said.

“Sen. Sanders and his supporters have brought a remarkable passion and tenacity to all of these issues. Together, they have shifted the fundamental conversation in this country,” Biden added.

“So let me say, especially to the young voters who have been inspired by Sen. Sanders: I hear you. I know what’s at stake. I know what we have to do.”

Source New York Post

Trump’s press secretary Stephanie Grisham steps down: White House

Stephanie Grisham,  who never held a single press briefing in the White House
stepped down Tuesday.                                                                                         

President Donald Trump's chief spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham, who never held a single press briefing in a White House where Trump runs much of the communications himself, stepped down Tuesday.

The White House said Grisham would now work solely for Trump's wife Melania.

"First Lady Melania Trump is today announcing that Stephanie Grisham will be rejoining the East Wing full time as chief of staff and spokesperson," a statement said.

A replacement as White House press secretary will be announced in "the coming days," Grisham said.

Grisham took up the once high profile job in June last year but has been largely invisible, amid Trump's relentless campaign against what he considers unfairly critical journalists.

Grisham's departure could also signal the start of a wider personnel shake-up by Trump's new chief of staff Mark Meadows.

Meadows is the fourth person in that crucial job while Grisham was the third press secretary, having taken over from Sarah Sanders.

The longtime presidential tradition of daily West Wing press briefings held by the press secretary all but died under Sanders, who had a combative relationship with most journalists covering the White House.

Under Grisham, not a single such event took place, largely reflecting her boss' transformation of presidential public relations and his tempestuous relationship with the media.

Most of her public appearances took place in the shape of softball interviews on Fox News, which increasingly serves as the White House's conduit for getting its message to the country.

Trump tweets daily, sometimes well over a dozen times a day, putting out everything from random thoughts on politics to announcing major policies or personnel changes.

He also gives lengthy, frequent interviews to openly loyal hosts on Fox News.

But unlike previous presidents, he takes frequent questions from White House journalists before flying on the Marine One helicopter or during what used to be drama-free photo opportunities in the Oval Office.

Ironically, the abandoned White House briefing room has been given new life by Trump himself during the coronavirus crisis.

He now appears at the podium daily for marathon question and answer sessions.

During the briefings Trump is not accompanied by his press advisors and largely runs the events himself, choosing which reporters will speak and commenting on the supposed fairness of their questions.

Trump has made lashing out at journalists a pillar of his political brand, regularly calling reporters "fake" or "disgraceful" or "second rate" before television audiences of millions.

At his campaign rallies, he routinely encourages the large crowds to turn and boo the small group of journalists covering the event.

(Source: AFP)

UK Prince Harry says Trump is one of the 'sick people' running the world

Britain’s Prince Harry has blasted US President Donald Trump
during a hoax call from prankster  ...                                                

Britain’s Prince Harry has blasted US President Donald Trump during a hoax call from pranksters, saying the US leader has "blood on his hands" and is one of the "sick people" running the world, according to British media.

Russian hoaxers impersonating Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and her father, Svante, telephoned the prince on two separate occasions earlier this year at his luxury home in Vancouver Island, Canada, according to The Sun newspaper.

The two phone conversations between Harry and Russian hoaxers Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov took place on New Year's Eve and January 22, according to the British newspaper.

Harry reportedly slammed Trump for his environmental policies, stating, "I think the mere fact that Donald Trump is pushing the coal industry is so big in America, he has blood on his hands." 

"Unfortunately the world is being led by some very sick people so the people like yourselves and younger generation are the ones that are going to make all the difference," he added.

Harry also told the fake Greta that she could "outsmart" the US president.

Greta has been asked to speak at several high-profile events, including at the United Nations (UN) and the US Congress, to urge immediate action against what she describes as a global climate crisis.

Back in December, the 16-year-old activist said talking to Trump at the UN Climate Change Summit in September would have been a waste of time since he would not have paid any attention.

Trump has dismissed climate change and is pulling the United States out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on global warming. Trump ridiculed the teenage activist in December after she was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2019.