"Teatro in times of plague"
I was wrong yesterday; I said there were no new cases in Progreso. Among yesterday’s new cases, there were three in Progreso. That makes a total of 4, with one death (of the first case). One of the new cases is in the barrio right next to us, Barrio San Francisco. I don’t have any details about who the three are. Radio Progreso says they have cordoned off the barrios where they are.
Flights of deportees have continued unabated; there are about three per week. The real problem with that is that there is no infrastructure to take care of a 14-day watch period when they arrive, and many just take off and disappear into the populations. And they say there are serious problems with the disease permeating the ICE detention centers.
There is a huge problem with the gear for nurses and doctors. The interns at a major hospital in Tegucigalpa and those at another in San Pedro Sula have walked out in protest of the lack of protective gear.
Friday, April 3, 2020
The official count is 222 cases, 15 deaths. But La Prensa of San Pedro Sula says there are four more deaths that haven’t been counted yet.
I went to the office this morning (today is the day for those whose id ends in 7 8 9 0. Mine is 9).
Downtown was all cordoned off for cars, and there were mobs of people in the banks and food stands. Traffic was a mess even without taxis and busses because of the blocked streets. I finally found the way to get out of the mess and circle around.
Luis was in the teatro, in the hope that people will drop off donations of food for the actors. It’s the first step in our emergency rescue of the teatro family.
Radio Progreso organized a seminar this afternoon – virtually of course; I suppose you would call it a WEBinar. They had two of the central figures in all that is going on: Suyapa Figueroa, the president of the Honduran Medical College, and Hugo Noé Pino, ex President of the Central Bank.
Dra. Figueroa said that today in Tegucigalpa she noted the same fenomenon as here: mobs of people making it almost seem a normal day. People aren’t paying attention to the stay at home order.
Dra. Figueroa is our answer to Anthony Fauci; she really is sharp.
The congress has passed a huge relief bill, as has the US congress. And as in the northern case, there are huge questions about how this is going to be spent and who is responsible for overseeing the plunder. The minions of JOH are faithful disciples of El Padrino Trump, and the local top percentage is trying to use the crisis to rob even more. One estimate was that JOH will emerge from this as a billionaire – apart from his drug profits.
The relief bill is larger than the sum of all the rest of the Central American countries. You can feel the wolves circling.
Keep safe and wash your hands.
Jack.
Send a contribution to:
teatro la fragua
c/o Jesuit Advancement Office
4511 West Pine Boulevard
St. Louis, MO. 63108, U.S.A./EE.UU.
4511 West Pine Boulevard
St. Louis, MO. 63108, U.S.A./EE.UU.
Please send the donation details to teatrolafragua@gmail.com