Haiti voodoo leaders prepare temples for coronavirus sufferers

Haitian Voodoo leader Carl Henri Desmornes walks during a ceremony, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Port-au-Prince, Haiti May 1, 2020. REUTERS/Jeanty Junior Augustin

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haiti's voodoo leaders have trained priests of the Afro Caribbean religion to concoct a secret remedy for the novel coronavirus and to prepare the sacred initiation chambers of their temples to receive patients.

In Haiti, where Western healthcare services are scarce and too expensive for many, inhabitants often rely on the herbal remedies and ritual practices of their voodoo “houngan” priest or “mambo” priestess.