Face Masks, Unemployment, and the Vulnerable

I am writing today to discuss the situation surrounding the coronavirus and how it is unfolding in Haiti. First of all, the local Haitian people were very much aware of the severity of the pandemic. There is currently a level of anxiety that I have never seen before. There are rumors amongst the population that Coronavirus will kill half of the population. Although this is highly unlikely, it shows the heightened levels of tension and fear surrounding the situation at hand. 

On the 19th of March the first two cases of Coronavirus were confirmed in Haiti and on the 20th, the Haitian President Moise took decisive action and ordered all schools, universities, and factories to close immediately. In the formal garment-manufacturing sector, there are 54,000 people who are employed. It is important to note that the majority of Haitians are employed in the informal sector such as street merchants and local services. Therefore, the call to close factories, which are a major employer in a very economically fragile nation, has the potential to create dire circumstances for thousands of people. Most Haitians live day to day on small amounts of income. There is a complete lack of electricity throughout the island making refrigeration available only for the small elite class. This means that most people purchase small amounts of food each day to feed their families. There are no stockpiles of supplies within their homes. When they lose their jobs without severance or a social safety net such as unemployment insurance, they quite literally do not eat. The government has promised to cover 50% of their lost wages, however, no explicit information was given about how that would happen.

A few days after the initial closing of the factories, the Manufacturers association met with the Haitan government to discuss the needs for health equipment to help combat the virus. A major need that was identified was face masks. Through collaboration, the government amended the original decree and stated that if factories could abide by new regulations such as social distancing and hand-washing, they could remain open and produce face masks for the country. This would achieve two objectives: keeping a percentage of the workers employed  (albeit a very small percentage) and meeting an anticipated need for the population to wear protective masks. The wearing of masks is all the more necessary in a country where social distancing is a challenge.

At this point the Haitian government has requested 20 million masks from the manufacturing sector. This is great news I would like to acknowledge the 24 factories (as of April 10) who have stepped up to the plate to help accomplish this initiative. We are proud of the quality and care that is going into making these masks and look forward to finding ways to collaborate on these efforts. 

-Cynthia Petterson, President & Co-Founder

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article241624391.html