PORT-AU-PRINCE – Haiti’s government on Thursday declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak, closing the borders of the Americas’ poorest nation and imposing a curfew after authorities detected the first two cases of infection.
President Jovenel Moise told a news conference that all the Caribbean country’s ports, airports and borders would be closed to people from midnight on Thursday, though they would remain open for goods traffic.
Schools, universities, places of worship and industrial parks would be closed, and a curfew would be in force from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. as of Friday, he added.
Haiti was one of the last Caribbean nations to remain coronavirus-free and had suspended flights from Europe, Latin America and Canada and imposed major restrictions on the border with the neighboring Dominican Republic earlier this week in a bid to prevent the disease’s entry. Continue reading