Migrants waiting at the U.S.-Mexico border for hearings on whether they can enter the United States face enhanced risk of contracting and dying from coronavirus, health experts warn.
That is because health conditions at camps just south of the border are cramped and rife with unsanitary conditions, migrant advocates told USA Today.
About 2,000 migrants live in tents in Matamoros, where they share portable bathrooms and sinks, the newspaper reported.
Efforts are being made to head off the coming crisis. Global Response Management, which operates the camp's only health clinic, plans to set up a 20-bed field hospital for coronavirus patients.
There is also the complicated matter of postponed immigration hearings. There has been confusion over whether certain hearings have been postponed during the coronavirus crises, and, even if they are, getting that information to the migrants proves difficult since they move between camps to avoid criminal gangs and cartels.
The group Angry Tias and Abuelas has added hand sanitizers and bleach to the rice and beans they usually supply and have postponed group meetings.
Many nearby hospitals are poorly equipped for the expected crisis to come. There are only 40 critical-care beds and 10 ventilators in Matamoros, which has a population of 450,000. Even so, only one out of nearly 100 migrants sent to the hospital have been admitted, Helen Perry, head of Global Response Management, told USA Today.
"Ultimately, there's only so much you can do when 2,500 people are living in a space the size of two football fields," she said.
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