21 Mar Haiti and El Salvador Report First Cases of COVID-19

United Brethren churches exist in 18 countries. As of Wednesday, three of those countries hadn’t yet confirmed a case of COVID-19: Sierra Leone, Haiti, and El Salvador.

Now, only Sierra Leone remains virus-free.

On March 18, El Salvador reported its first case: a person who had recently visited Italy. Two more cases were reported on March 20. We have five churches in the El Salvador Mission District, which is under the supervision of Honduras Conference.

On March 19, Haiti reported two cases: a 31-year-old Haitian who had just returned from Paris, and a Belgian volunteering in a Port-au-Prince orphanage. As has happened in most countries, the news caused panic-buying–food, gas, soap, face masks, etc.

President Jovenel Moise moved to close all of Haiti’s airports, seaports, factories, and schools. There is an 8pm to 5am curfew, and a ban on gatherings above ten people. Two days before, he had announced a two-week suspension of flights from Europe, Canada, the Dominican Republic, and Latin America.

Our 28 churches in Haiti became a United Brethren national conference–the tenth–last summer.