Guatemala's health minister says at least half of all deportees from U.S. have COVID-19

Guatemalan Health Minister Hugo Monroy on Tuesday said more than 50 percent of all deportees flown to his country from the United States have tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Monroy did not share any specific numbers on how many deportees are sick or when they returned to Guatemala, the Los Angeles Times reports, but he did say that deportees are stepping off airplanes with fevers and coughs and receiving immediate COVID-19 testing. Guatemala has 150 active COVID-19 cases in the country, and at least five Guatemalans have died from the virus. A spokesman for the Guatemalan foreign ministry told the Times the "official" number of deportees diagnosed with COVID-19 is four, with one arriving on Monday.

Since January, more than 11,758 Guatemalans have been deported from the United States, including 100 unaccompanied minors who were flown to the country during the first week of April. On Monday, 182 deportees arrived in Guatemala on two flights from Texas.

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There are 33,000 migrants now in U.S. custody, and immigration officials said that 77 detainees have tested positive for COVID-19, although some may have been released. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Guatemalan authorities have asked the United States to halt deportations to the country, over fears of spreading the virus.