2,500 migrants are stuck at a US-Mexico border camp 'ripe for mass infection.' Photos show how they're preparing for a potential coronavirus outbreak.
Matamoros is located on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, which also shares a border with Brownsville, Texas.
In the city is a migrant camp built on a former soccer pitch. It currently houses 2,500 people and is still operating in full swing despite fears of the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: Reuters
Many of the migrants here originally came from Central America and hope to enter the US. But after the Trump administration postponed all immigration hearings on March 24 due to the coronavirus, their fate is now in limbo.
Source: CNN
With no electricity or running water, the conditions in the camp are dire. This woman in the camp is cooking beans on a self-made fire.
Source: Reuters
Though there have been no reported coronavirus infections in the camp itself, Tamaulipas state — where Matamoros is located — has at least two confirmed cases, local media said.
Mexico has a total of 475 confirmed cases as of Thursday.
Source: Expreso Press
This has made humanitarian groups extremely nervous of a potential coronavirus outbreak. They are now working around the clock to prepare the camp for it.
Source: The Guardian
"If COVID-19 does come to our camp, the environment is ripe for mass infection and severe illness," Andrea Leiner, director of the medical non-profit Global Response Management (GRM), told Quartz.
Source: Quartz
GRM has already started taking some preventative measures to shield people from possible infection. For example, they have asked migrants to spread their tents further apart, and are handing out multivitamins every day.
Source: Quartz
It also put in a new policy asking those with mild coronavirus symptoms to self-isolate in their tents. Those with more serious symptoms will immediately be sent to a local hospital.
Source: Quartz
Humanitarian groups working on site have also set up a medical hotline that inhabitants can call should they start developing symptoms.
Source: Quartz
They are also trying to improve ventilation in the camp, which is known to be very dusty. "We're clearly not able to provide medical-grade oxygen at the quantity where we can ventilate people — that's just not possible," Leiner said.
While most migrants are young, humanitarian workers still consider them a vulnerable group because of their poor living conditions and lack of healthcare on site.
Mexico as a whole has also been criticized for its relatively relaxed stance on the coronavirus outbreak compared to other countries.
Source: The Guardian
On March 15, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador was still seen hugging and kissing supporters at a rally in Autla de Los Libres.
Source: Al Jazeera
Matamoros authorities first said the crisis "wasn't a big deal" before quickly approving humanitarian plans to start putting restrictions in place.
Source: Quartz
And Leiner, the humanitarian group coordinator, is preparing for the worst. "Like every other system in the world, their system is going to become overwhelmed at some point, and so we want to be prepared for when that eventuality comes," she said.
Source: Quartz
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