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Guatemala health minister says more than half of deportees from U.S. have COVID-19

Guatemalan soldiers wearing face masks as a preventive measure against the spread of new coronavirus distribute boxes with food supplies at Las Brisas del Lago neighborhood during a partial curfew ordered by the government in Guatemala. (JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

More than half the deportees flown back to Guatemala by U.S. immigration authorities have tested positive for coronavirus, the top Guatemalan health official said Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in Guatemala City, Hugo Monroy, the minister of health, did not specify a time frame or the total number of deportees who had arrived home with infections.


But hundreds of Guatemalans have been returned in recent weeks, including 182 who arrived Monday on two flights from Texas.

Monroy said that on one flight — which he declined to identify — more than 75% of the deportees tested positive.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.