According to Guatemalan health and migration officials, the man arrived in Guatemala on a deportation flight Thursday. He was asymptomatic at the time, but two days later began presenting symptoms and subsequently tested positive for the virus, the officials said.
It appears to be the first reported case of someone deported from the United States with coronavirus — a possibility that advocates had been warning of for weeks.
The man has been hospitalized in Guatemala CIty, officials said. Forty others who were on the deportation flight with him are being quarantined at home.
Immigrant and human rights advocates have been warning for weeks that deportation flights from the United States, the country with the largest number of known coronavirus cases, could hasten the spread of the virus in other nations.
Meanwhile, some who favor restricting immigration in the United States have suggested accelerating the pace of deportation flights in response to concerns about the virus spreading in ICE detention facilities.
Guatemalan officials say 36 cases of coronavirus and one death have been confirmed in that country. More than 155,000 coronavirus cases and more than 2,800 deaths have been confirmed in the United States, according to CNN’s count.
Earlier this month Guatemala temporarily suspended deportation flights from the United States amid concerns over the pandemic. The flights resumed days later.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The agency’s coronavirus website indicates temperature screenings are conducted before detainees board deportation flights.
“Any detainee with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher will be immediately referred to a medical provider for further evaluation and observation,” the website says.
As of Monday morning, deportation flights from the United States were continuing to arrive in Guatemala.
