So far, more than 420 new cholera cases and 25 new deaths were confirmed this week by the U.N. Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, bringing the confirmed undocumented total number of deaths to 284. Officials also note that the majority of cases have occurred along the central Artibonite River and in Haiti’s central plateau. Now it appears that the stress over the past months accumulated since the earthquake and now with the outbreak of cholera, which was almost unknown in Haiti before it began spreading through the countryside, has pushed some to the limits.
More than 300 students and other protesters attacked a cholera treatment center as it prepared to open in the city of St. Marc on Tuesday. The 400-bed facility was intended to rehydrate and treat people with the severe diarrheal disease. According to reports, the protestors indicated that they did not trust and were afraid of the organization Doctors Without Borders, feeling that this new clinic would only spread more of the disease in their town. St. Marc has been one of the most effected areas since the outbreak was documented a week ago. So far, the United Nations has tracked almost 4000 people that have been infected with cholera.
To deal with the fears, Haitian health officials told the group that the clinic would not open in that neighborhood. Those on site said that protesters threw rocks and Molotov cocktails. Witnesses also said that warning shots were heard. The U.N. said its soldiers fired blanks and that peacekeepers from Argentina arrived with riot shields to assist local police.
Francisco Otero, Doctors Without Borders-Spain country chief, said they would try to reopen the clinic in another part of St. Marc. U.N. staff have been told to avoid areas of heavy infection unless AID workers are doing all they can to contain the spread of the disease.
