Puerto Rico

Competence, expertise, openness and honesty are all critical to build trust and credibility during a crisis. Unfortunately, the Puerto Rican government has failed at every single one of these during the COVID-19 emergency.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Ricans are becoming increasingly disgruntled with how the government is handling the COVID-19 crisis as details emerge, including the death a 29-year-old man who became the U.S. territory’s youngest victim after his father said he wasn’t tested the first two times he sought help at an emergency room.

The number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases that have been reported can reflect a double or even triple count. The Health Department confirmed it has no protocol in place to manage and inform the rapid test results.

The breaking news is nonstop, so we’ve tried to condense and make everything digestible.

La cifra de casos positivos de COVID-19 que se han reportado tiene un problema de doble o hasta triple conteo. El Departamento de Salud confirmó que no tenía protocolos para manejar e informar el resultado de las pruebas rápidas.

In this segment, journalist Natasha S. Alford joins Latino USA to explain what factors have lead to the undercount of the island’s black residents.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor announced Thursday that she has ordered the cancellation of all contracts awarded to people and companies whose names have been publicized as part of a local and federal investigation into an attempted purchase of $38 million worth of COVID-19 testing kits.

Latino Rebels Radio: April 16, 2020

El Departamento de Salud no ha tenido un proceso efectivo y centralizado para recibir e informar los resultados de las pruebas rápidas. A pesar de que ha repartido miles de pruebas rápidas a hospitales y centros de salud, el Gobierno de Puerto Rico no tiene control sobre qué ocurre con estas pruebas una vez las distribuye.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico officials say data that show COVID-19 cases on the island are much lower than in some U.S. states constitute proof they are containing the new coronavirus, but a series of missteps is raising concerns it could be more widespread than believed.

“So, more tests and less corruption, because we don’t know how people are stealing money in the middle of a pandemic,” one masked protester said.

Latino Rebels Radio: April 14, 2020

The Health Department has been unable to specify how many rapid tests it has conducted nor their results. Mistakes, delays, overpaying, questionable interventions, bureaucracy and deals between officials and suppliers with political ties have characterized the government’s procurement efforts to confront the epidemic. The latter adds to an already difficult situation in which Puerto Rico competes with the rest of the world for supplies in the face of the crisis.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor announced Saturday that the U.S. territory will remain on lockdown until May 3 to curb coronavirus cases, marking one of the strictest measures taken in a U.S jurisdiction.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. Court of Appeals issued a key ruling on Friday that allows anyone from Puerto Rico to apply for Supplemental Security Income at a time when the U.S. territory is mired in a 13-year recession.

The constant changes to executive orders, which have been criticized by lawyers and members of the Justice Department for their unclear language, have caused discord between police officers attempting to uphold the law and citizens who are trying to take care of themselves and their loved ones. 

El Departamento de Salud no ha podido precisar cuántas pruebas rápidas ha realizado ni sus resultados. Errores, retrasos, pagos a sobreprecio, intervenciones cuestionables, burocracia, y compras entre funcionarios y suplidores con vínculos partidistas han caracterizado la gestión del Gobierno para enfrentar la epidemia. Esto se suma a una situación que ya era difícil, donde Puerto Rico compite con el resto del mundo por suplidos ante la crisis.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico announced Wednesday that it will broaden its classification of COVID-19 deaths to include suspected cases that were never confirmed, addressing a problem of undercounting also seen around the world.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor on Wednesday asked federal officials to ban all flights from U.S. cities with a high number of coronavirus cases to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. territory.

El inventario de mascarillas, guantes, batas y otros materiales está tocando fondo en los hospitales privados mientras la demanda mundial por los mismos productos continúa en aumento. Esto cuando aún faltan semanas para que se produzca el pico de los casos de COVID-19 que se espera en Puerto Rico, según anticipa el Departamento de Salud (DS).

Passenger flow from the areas of largest spread of the virus in the United States has decreased but has not stopped. Those areas also have the highest concentrations of Puerto Rican residing there. That is coupled with the fact that island airports did not take preventive health measures for weeks, and tracing people who were in contact with positive COVID-19 cases has not begun.