In the Overseas Territories, the Covid epidemic continues to advance despite containment measures. In Martinique, funeral announcements are read on the radio every day and the lists are growing.
This 60-year-old tradition is a weekly appointment for locals who have seen it lengthen with the doubling of deaths on the island, hit by the fourth wave.
This reading lasted more than 50 minutes and is now similar to a “barometer” of the coronavirus epidemic. The facilitator details their age, funeral locations, vigils, bereaved families, and wishes of the deceased. And in the last few days, you’ve seen this list grow.
“Usually we have a maximum of 30 to 35 opinions. There today I turned 69, and in the meantime two more have arrived ”, in the middle of the transmission, he explains, in the private radio studio, the first in terms of audience in the West Indies where the epidemic is burning.
Martinique La 1ere (public service), a competing radio station, broadcasts a similar program. On the island, less than 24% of the population has received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine