16 IN
St. Maarten under the threat of
coronavirus
and hunger
Hurricane Irma was devastating. But many residents of St. Maarten believe that the corona pandemic can turn out to be even more disastrous for the island. The fear of becoming infected is less for many than the fear of losing a job or company. Hundreds of residents are already without income, they have to survive in anticipation of help and better times. A report.
E
arly in the morning, a man is bathing himself in the waves of Great Bay in Philipsburg. His pants and shirt are on the beach. A hundred yards away, a man walks around aimlessly. He has no home and no income since the beach and jet ski operators had to stop working due to COVID-19. More than two weeks have now passed. He still wears the same dark pants and gray t-shirt. Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs of St. Maarten declared
a state of emergency on Saturday April 4. The entire population must remain indoors 24 hours a day for two weeks. The measure, which starts at midnight that day, comes unexpected to many. Those who do not have internet cannot follow the Prime Minister’s updates. Moreover, she only speaks in English. Communication in Spanish and Patois follows three days later. Officials tie a large speaker on the roof of a vehicle and drive to Cape Bay, a remote area with many Haitians and Dominicans, to announce the
emergency measure in multiple languages. On the eve of the total lockdown, people who have heard the prime minister try to do as much last minute shopping as possible. Crowds of people gather in front of supermarkets, there is hardly any social distancing. The following day, Sunday, April 5, all shops and businesses are closed, except for two gas stations where police, navy and ambulance drivers can get gas.
INSIDEstmaarten.com
That Sunday, the otherwise busy Bush Road and the road to Marigot are used by some motorists as a race track. Also breaking the curfew are a few noisy motorcyclists in Cay Hill, a short distance from St. Maarten Medical Center, the only hospital on the Dutch side of the island. The navy has hastily erected a large tent there for the treatment and care of corona patients. The terrain is further leveled with a caterpillar, a pick-up arrives with building material, and preparations are made inside the tent for the
arrival of additional Intensive Care beds and medical equipment from the Netherlands later that day. A group of mountain bikers race down from Cay Hill in uniform, as if it were an ordinary Sunday. Next to the footpath is a blue rubber glove, a few meters away another. I will come across more, up to Maho about twenty, blue and white. In the bushes I see a few facemasks. At the top of Cay Hill are two billboards: one from the
