HAVANA/PORT-AU-PRINCE — Three migrants the United States deported two weeks ago to Haiti, on a flight that raised objections from human rights advocates, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus while in quarantine in the Caribbean country, a Haitian health ministry source told Reuters.
Several U.S. lawmakers had also opposed the deportation flight to Haiti given the risk of spreading the virus further in the poorest country in the Americas, which is especially vulnerable to an outbreak.
At the point of the flight, the Caribbean nation had just 25 confirmed cases compared to more than 380,000 in its northern neighbor. It now has 47 but that number could rise swiftly.
A major outbreak of the novel coronavirus could be devastating for Haiti, which has around 100 ventilators for 11 million residents and where the healthcare system was already collapsing.