MEXICO CITY — Between 50 and 75 percent of all deportees from the United States to Guatemala have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Guatemalan Health Ministry reported Tuesday.
The startling statistic, which other Guatemalan officials were still trying to confirm, would lay bare the human cost of continued U.S. deportations during the global pandemic. Previously, the Guatemalan government had only reported that four deportees had tested positive for the virus.
The United States briefly paused deportations to Guatemala last month, when the country raised concern about deportees returning with the virus. But after U.S. officials pledged to add health checks before deportees boarded the planes, the flights were resumed. In March and April, more than 3,300 Guatemalans have been deported from the United States.
“The cases of those who were deported and then tested positive have greatly increased,” Hugo Monroy, the minister of health, said in a news conference.
Monroy said in many cases the deportees arrive with fevers.
“There’s one flight in particular with more than 75 percent of positive cases,” Monroy said, adding that when he considered “all the flights” of deportees, the range of positive cases was between 50 and 75 percent.
Officially, Guatemala has only 180 coronavirus cases, but Monroy’s comments seem to suggest the actual number could be much higher. Other Guatemalan officials, speaking privately, suggested that Monroy’s numbers could be inaccurate.
On Tuesday evening, Guatemala’s president, Alejandro Giammattei, delivered a national address where he gave an update on the total number of cases in the country but did not speak directly about deportees, or respond to Monroy’s comments.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has said that 77 detainees have tested positive for coronavirus. ICE officials have said they assess the health of migrants, including checking their temperatures before the flights depart. But they do not test them for the virus.
