Covid-19: More suffering throughout the country

By this point, we’re all pretty well-educated about what it means to “flatten the curve”. We’ve seen the scary graphs that look like we are on a rollercoaster, slowly (or not so slowly) inching our way to the top of the biggest hill. The people of Honduras are also on a ride of their own. When Trish posted the last blog post about how Covid-19 is affecting Honduras, there were 52 confirmed cases. Ten days later, that number has jumped to 268 confirmed cases. Obviously, that’s a very concerning rise.

Family in very small home in Lempira

This week has also brought the number of Covid-19 related deaths in Honduras to 22. That number includes quite a few people who got sick and died and home, and then were tested for the virus post-mortem. Many Hondurans don't go to the doctor when they get sick, because that's not something they can afford.

As mentioned last week, there is an expectation for the death toll percentage to be quite high. The hospitals are already overwhelmed. Many patients with less severe symptoms are being asked to isolate at home. According to an article in the Honduran newspaper, El Heraldo, the most recent Honduras census indicates that a third of Honduran homes have one or fewer bedrooms (with families ranging in size from 2 to 11 people in those homes). This means that many Hondurans with Covid-19 who are sent home will almost certainly infect their families, as there isn't a separate room in the home for them to be isolated.

In Lepaera Lempira, a church has been converted to an isolation zone, so those with suspected
cases can be separated from their families and the rest of the community.
Photo from GRT Honduras FB page

Trish reported that they are probably getting more specific information about each infected person than we are in the U.S. Unlike the States, Honduras isn’t as concerned with HIPAA laws and patient's privacy rights. They are getting a lot of information regarding underlying conditions, and recent travel histories.

The first confirmed case was in a woman who came into the country from the US. Upon arriving in Honduras, she traveled across the country by car, to an area near Trujillo (on the north coast). She began to feel ill a couple of days after arriving at her destination. She visited a doctor, who sent her home with cold medications. When she didn’t improve after a few more days, she went to a local hospital. They sent her to be tested for Coronavirus at another medical facility. During the course of this, three doctors were infected with the virus. There simply aren’t procedures in place to keep medical personnel safe. The news is reporting that two doctors in Honduras have already died from the virus.

Countrywide, people are still on lockdown, with orders to stay home for everything except medical care or grocery shopping. There is a plan in place for when you can go out. All adults in Honduras have numbered identity cards; the final digit of your card determines if you shop on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. Previously, there was one day of shopping for everyone, which did nothing to help with social distancing. Iris went shopping in Gracias this past Wednesday, and found that the stores were well stocked with food.

Food distribution in Lempira
photo from GRT Honduras FB page

Local communities still have blockades, which they are responsible for monitoring. These local roadblocks are far different from the normal checkpoints operated by police and the military. The local blockades involve a way of physically blocking the road. The Sowerses are prevented from taking their normal route to go to town (by a deep and wide ditch, and trees down across the road), but they can still get out in another direction by going through a military checkpoint.  There is a growing problem of vigilantes running the local roadblocks. In the larger cities, there have been instances of people setting up roadblocks to stop cars, and then stealing their food after their shopping trips. As people get hungrier and more desperate, this kind of problem is expected to become worse.

As is to be expected, there are people who are going hungry, during this extended time of lockdown. The people who work on farms or have their own private gardens are getting by. Those who work at a job outside of their home are severely impacted. In the best of circumstances, many families eat or don't eat based on their earnings of that day. Now, they are unable to work and unable to purchase anything. The government is assisting by handing out packages containing items like rice, beans, and oil. Many missionaries have put together plans to help people in their communities. Trish has also heard about some local businesses in Gracias that have been helping with food handouts. At this point, it’s important to figure out who needs help the most right now, to make the best use of limited resources - since there's currently no end in sight to the lockdowns.

Click on the map to see a larger version.

The department of Lempira is on the western side of Honduras. The Sowers4Pastors sponsorship centers are located roughly in a circle around the city of Gracias. Until recently, the confirmed cases in the area had all been in the city of La Union, in the north east part of Lempira, along the border between the departments of Lempira and Santa Barbara. As Trish said, it was neither super close nor super far from the communities with sponsorship centers, however there are regular feeding centers in that area. On March 31, a new coronavirus case was diagnosed in a different location within Lempira - along the south eastern border with the department of Intibuca. While that’s not especially close to Gracias, having a new case pop up in a completely different location after two weeks of quarantine is concerning.

Thanks so much for your prayers! Please keep them coming because this is a wild ride.

 - posted by Christi