Americas
Critics blast Puerto Rico ‘dictatorial decree’ as coronavirus claims youngest victim
A 40-year-old man who died of COVID-19 has become Puerto Rico’s youngest victim of the global pandemic, as total cases continue to creep up on the island despite a sweeping lockdown.
On Tuesday, the Health Department said the man had died in the San Juan metropolitan area due to complications arising from the coronavirus. A 79-year-old woman also succumbed to the disease, bringing the death toll to 23 people.
In addition, officials said they had detected 60 new cases for a total of 573 cases.
“Each death produced by this virus brings us face to face with the lamentable reality of how lethal the enemy is that we’re facing,” Health Secretary Lorenzo González said in a statement.
Dictatorial Decree?
While Puerto Rico’s authorities have been praised for taking steps early to enforce social distancing, the way the government has done it is raising eyebrows. The American Civil Liberties Union has asked for an injunction of the executive order that created the quarantine and curfew, arguing it’s unconstitutional.
On Monday, Gov. Wanda Vázquez assumed even more sweeping powers, signing an amendment to the Public Security law that makes breaking the curfew — or future curfews — punishable with six months in jail and/or a $5,000 fine. In addition, it makes it illegal for media outlets or social media accounts “to transmit or allow the transmission” of “false information with the intention of creating confusion, panic, or public hysteria, with regards to any proclamation or executive order declaring an emergency, disaster or curfew.”
If the false information causes more than $10,000 in damage to public-sector finances or leads to injury or damage of physical property, it will be considered a fourth-degree criminal offense, the governor’s office said.
Luís Davila-Colón, a prominent radio host and author, accused the governor of drifting into authoritarianism.
“You cannot govern through dictatorial decrees, scolding, secrets, muzzling, blockades or threatening to imprison your subjects,” he wrote on Twitter. “You govern through leadership, care, and with measures to protect, not oppress.”
But Vázquez argues the move is necessary as some people are still not complying with the stay-at-home order. Since the quarantine went into place, at least 275 people have been arrested and 482 people have been cited or charged.
“That number is unacceptable and even more so when it risks the health and security of our people,” Vázquez said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Puerto Rico’s Chamber of Commerce also questioned the governor’s decision to close all establishments except pharmacies and gasoline stations from Friday through Sunday — using the Easter Holiday to further tighten social-distancing orders.
Chamber President José E. Ledesma Fuentes said the order was counterproductive and potentially dangerous.
“We understand the motivation is to stop the spread of the coronavirus, which is what we all want,” Ledesma Fuentes said in a statement. “But in this instance, the mass of people we’ll see before and after the closure will result in a disorganized avalanche of people, which will lead to more contagions and delays in our society.”
The new rules came hours after the government acknowledged that it had to cancel an order for 1 million COVID-19 rapid test kits worth $38 million because they had not received federal approval and had not arrived on time.
The Federal Oversight and Management Board — a federally appointed body that oversees the island’s finances — said that the contract and at least one other deal for test kits had not been given approval and should be considered null and void.
Puerto Rico already has one of the lowest per-capita testing rates of any U.S. jurisdiction.
The Health Department says it has tested 5,513 people resulting in 573 positive cases, 3,966 negative cases and 968 tests still pending. A few cases have been inconclusive.
The island shut down all nonessential businesses and imposed a curfew from March 16-April 12. But with the peak of the outbreak not expected to hit the U.S. territory until between April 15 and May 8, many believe the measures will ultimately be extended.
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