COVID plagues Haiti amid political uncertainty

With low vaccine rates and little testing, hospital officials say it is difficult to know how accurate Haiti’s COVID statistics are.

Laying on her side in a sleeveless peach-colored dress, an elderly patient groaned as she gasped for air in one of the Haitian capital’s few medical units equipped to care for those hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The 81-year-old wore a clear plastic mask on her face attached to a metal tank providing 21 litres (5.5 gallons) of oxygen per minute, the maximum reserved for the most serious COVID-19 cases at St Luke’s Hospital on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. “Each breath she takes, every respiratory movement, is very painful,” said Dr Nathalie Colas, the hospital’s medical director, on a tour of the ward, where rooms were separated by thin curtains that moved gently with the Caribbean breeze and humming ceiling fans.